Fresh from their midweek triumphs against non-league teams in the FA Cup, League Two duo Forest Green Rovers and Grimsby Town do battle at the New Lawn on Saturday afternoon.
While the Green Devils claimed a 5-2 home victory over Scarbrough Athletic in a first-round replay, the Mariners also has their shooting boots laced as they thrashed Slough Town by a 7-2 scoreline.
Match preview
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Forest Green ended a three-game winless run when they comprehensively beat Scarborough on Tuesday night to progress from the first round of the FA Cup for the second successive year.
The Green Devils raced into a four-goal lead inside the first 35 minutes courtesy of strikes from Teddy Jenks, Kyle McAllister, Jamie Robson and Harvey Bunker, before Tyrese Omotoye netted in the second half in between two Scarborough goals to help the hosts set up a second-round tie with League One side Blackpool next month.
David Horseman's side now shift their focus back to League Two and will endeavour to climb out of the relegation zone with a victory on Saturday against a Grimsby side who sit just two places and four points above them in 21st.
Despite sitting second-bottom after winning four, drawing one and losing 11 of their 16 league fixtures this season, Horseman believes that his Forest Green side "are not too far away in this league" and can eventually join the chasing pack for the playoffs if they can put together a positive run of results in the coming weeks.
Forest Green, who have won three of their last five home games in all competitions, will fancy their chances of coming out on top against Grimsby on Saturday as they have won five and drawn one of their last six meetings with the Mariners, including a 2-1 away victory in their most recent encounter in March 2021.
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After beating Morecambe 3-2 in League Two last weekend, Grimsby were in among the goals once again on Tuesday night as they found the net seven times to hammer Slough at the second time of asking to progress from the FA Cup first round.
Just over a week on from their 1-1 draw with the non-league outfit in the reverse fixture, last season's FA Cup quarter-finalists were pegged back to 2-2 at half time before running riot after the break, with second-half goals from Rekeil Pyke – who also scored in the first half – Arthur Gnahoua (2), Alex Hurst and Jamie Andrews helping the Mariners set up a second-round tie with League One side Oxford United.
Joint-caretaker managers Shaun Pearson and Ben Davies are yet to suffer defeat in charge of Grimsby since replacing Paul Hurst, who was sacked at the end of last month following five straight losses, and the coaching duo will be targeting more success in their next two league fixtures against the bottom-two clubs Forest Green and Sutton United.
Grimsby will be aware that a couple of victories could see them catapult up the League Two table, as there are only six points separating themselves in 21st from Swindon Town in 12th place; defeat on Saturday, however, would see them slip to within one point of the relegation zone.
Improvements away from home are required for Grimsby if they wish to turn their fortunes around, as they have failed to win any of their last 11 matches on the road across all competitions, failing to keep a single clean sheet in the process – a 2-1 win at Doncaster Rovers in April was the last time that the Mariners celebrated success on their travels.
Team News
Forest Green will be without Marcel Lavinier, Matt Taylor, Reece Brown (all hamstring), Luke Daniels, Jordon Garrick (both quad), Ryan Inniss (shin), Callum Morton (ankle) and Mathew Stevens (knee) due to injury, while Troy Deeney will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
However, Rovers can welcome back Dom Bernard from suspension and the defender could partner Reece Welch at centre-back, with Fankaty Dabo and Robson operating as full-backs.
Horseman revealed that Jacob Maddox was rested in midweek with one eye on Saturday, so he could be handed a start in centre-midfield, while McAllister – who returned from injury to start against Scarborough – will hope to retain his place in the first XI along with central striker Omotoye.
As for Grimsby, defender Michee Efete is facing a few weeks out on the sidelines due to injury, while Otis Khan and Abo Eisa are away on international duty with Pakistan and Sudan respectively.
Danny Amos missed last weekend's win over Morecambe but returned to the starting lineup in midweek, playing for just over an hour, and he could continue at left-back on Saturday, while Harvey Rodgers may replace either Luke Waterfall or Niall Maher at centre-back.
Danny Rose, who has scored in each of his last three appearances, is expected to lead the line and could be supported in attack by Rekeil Pyke.
Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Dabo, Bernard, Welch, Robson; McAllister, McCann, Bunker, Maddox, Jenks; Omotoye
Grimsby Town possible starting lineup:
Cartwright; Mullarkey, Rogers, Maher, Amos; Conteh, Holohan; Gnahoua, Pyke, Clifton; Rose
We say: Forest Green Rovers 2-2 Grimsby Town
Both Forest Green and Grimsby enter Saturday's clash in buoyant mood following their midweek FA Cup victories, and the two teams will view this fixture as a winnable game in their quest to steer themselves away from danger in League Two.
Grimsby's dismal away record bodes well for Forest Green, but we believe that the visitors will do enough to claim a share of the spoils in an entertaining contest at the New Lawn.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
