The EFL League Two is set to get underway this weekend, and Grimsby Town will be hoping to get their season off to a winning start when they play host to AFC Wimbledon at Blundell Park on Saturday.
The hosts finished last season in 11th place with 61 points, 15 behind the top six sides, while the visitors only managed a 21st-place finish with 48 points, which was just 10 more than Rochdale at the foot of the table.
Match preview
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While 11th place in League Two may not seem like an incredible achievement for most, from a Grimsby Town perspective, the 2022-23 season would have been one that they will remember for a long time to come.
Following Paul Hurst's reappointment in December 2020, the club was relegated to the National League after a five-year stay in the football league and looked as though they were in a hopeless situation.
However, during the 2021-22 season, Grimsby achieved a commendable sixth position in the National League, and in the playoffs, they secured victories over Notts County in the quarter-final and Wrexham in the semi-final, but the climax came in the 2022 National League playoff final at the London Stadium, where they defeated Solihull Moors 2-1 in extra time, earning promotion back to League Two.
Not only did they manage to remain in the league with a solid mid-table finish, a significant milestone for Grimsby occurred last season when they progressed to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1939, defeating Southampton 2-1 in an away game.
With that, Grimsby became the first club in the competition's history to eliminate five teams from higher divisions and would have given the entire side something to reflect positively on after a few difficult years while also providing them with major confidence for the upcoming campaign.
Over the course of last season, the Mariners recorded 16 wins, 13 draws and 17 losses, scoring 49 and conceding 56 goals in that time, which also included a 1-0 win over this opponent on the final day of the season.
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Meanwhile, Wimbledon have had to endure a torrid time over the last few years and have steadily fallen in the ranks to one of the lowest levels they have seen in recent history.
Following a 20th-placed finish in League One in the 2020-21 season, Wimbledon finished second-bottom and were relegated the following season, ending a six-year stint in the third level of English football.
Unfortunately, it was not to be a swift return for Johnnie Jackson's men, who battled through the majority of last campaign, recording 11 wins, 15 draws, and 20 losses in their 46 matches which left them just five points above the dotted line.
They ended the season very poorly as well and were winless in their final seven fixtures of the campaign, including five losses and two draws, with no team losing more games over the same period.
Since then, though, Wimbledon played as many as six pre-season matches and were unbeaten in all of them, with four wins and two draws, and they will be hoping that they can carry that form into the league season, with a few tricky fixtures to come in the opening weeks.
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Team News
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Grimsby have made a number of signings in the pre-season, most notably with the addition of ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Stevenage player Danny Rose, who will likely slot straight into the starting 11.
With Danilo Orsi moving to Crawley Town in the summer, Donovan Wilson may form a new strike partnership with George Lloyd after opening his account for the Mariners against Cleethorpes Town in the preseason.
Australian goalkeeper Max Crocombe also made his way out of the club last month and should be replaced by ex-Sheffield United keeper Jake Eastwood who was brought in for an undisclosed amount.
Like their opponents, Wimbledon will be without several regulars from last season, including Ethan Chislett, Will Nightingale, Aaron Pierre and Alex Woodyard.
New signing Josh Neufville caught the eye for the visitors in the pre-season, scoring in three friendlies matches, and will likely start in midfield behind Josh Davison and Ali Al-Hamadi.
Grimsby Town possible starting lineup:
Eastwood; Smith, Pearson, Maher, Driscoll-Glennon; Clifton, Hunt, Khouri, Rose; Lloyd, Wilson
AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:
Tzanev; Ogundere, Pearce, Brown, Johnson; Ball, Tilley, Reeves, Neufville; Davison, Al-Hamadi
We say: Grimsby Town 2-1 AFC Wimbledon
Both sides have bolstered their attacking threat over the summer, and with most teams likely to need a few matches to get back to full match fitness, we expect that both these sides will get on the scoresheet, but feel that the hosts will edge it by the odd goal in the end.
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