Southend United v Grimsby Town - Match Preview - Vanarama National League

Grimsby Town will look to return to the National League play-off places when they travel to Roots Hall to face an in-form Southend United side on Friday night.

The Mariners were 3-1 winners over Aldershot Town last weekend with a goal for Erico Sousa as well as a brace from John McAtee. McAtee's second goal was his tenth of the season, the first Grimsby Town player to hit double digits in a season since Wes Thomas in 18/19 when the Mariners were playing in League Two. Ryan Glover scored a late consolation goal for the visitors but it was to no avail as the home side ran out comfortable victors over Mark Molesley's men. The win meant Grimsby have now picked up ten points out of a possible 12 available and they will look to add to their tally when they travel to Roots Hall as they look to keep in touch with the teams that are in and around the play-off spots. One thing that's eluded Town in recent months is their away form. The late victory against Notts County in front of 2,500 travelling fans was Town's first win away from home in nine attempts, losing the other eight. The Mariners away form I'm sure is something that Paul Hurst and his players will look to improve on approaching the final few months of the season. 

In terms of injury news for the Mariners, Hurst is 'hopeful' that Jordan Maguire-Drew will be in contention to take part in some capacity in this game. The winger has missed the last five games after being taken off at half-time with a calf injury in the 1-2 home defeat to Bromley, a game in which he scored the opening goal in. Ben Fox and Max Wright remain absent for this fixture. 

As for the home side in this one, Southend are currently one of the form sides in the division as they lie in 2nd in the National League form table. From their last nine games, out of a possible 27 points, the Shrimpers have accumulated 23 points, winning seven games and drawing the other two. Southend are coming into this game on the back of a 2-3 victory away at Woking. Jason Demetriou and Callum Powell gave the Shrimpers a 2-0 lead within the first 11 minutes before an Inih Effiong double clawed the Cardinals back level. With 14 minutes left to play, former Mariners striker Harry Cardwell restored Southend's lead and as a result, they left The Laithwaite Community Stadium with all three points. 

Grimsby Town were victorious in their last meeting with Southend United. A goal from Ryan Taylor in the 3rd minute was enough to give the Mariners the three points at Blundell Park back in November. That defeat at the time left Southend in 20th place in the National League table after being relegated from League Two with Grimsby the previous season, sitting a point above the relegation places. This time, it's a completely different story. There's been a resurgence at Roots Hall under manager Kevin Maher and although he was in the dugout in the defeat at Blundell Park, under his leadership, the Shrimpers are now well clear of the relegation spots and are now comfortably sitting 12th in the table after a difficult start to the season that cost former manager Phil Brown his job. 

What can we expect from this fixture? 

Going into this game, I think it will be clear early on that this is a Southend side that's high on confidence at the moment and why shouldn't they be? It will be a tough test for Town and with 6,500 tickets sold for the home end, I get the feeling the crowd from both sets of supporters will have a part to play in this one. Like Southend however, Town are unbeaten in four and will want to continue this patch of good form. Grimsby's next aim is to improve on their away results but with that big victory at Notts County when they were last on the road, if they are to get a play-off place, they will certainly need to build on that as well as building the run they're currently on. As for Southend, they will look to continue their impressive form by going ten games unbeaten and on top of that, five straight victory at Roots Hall. I personally can't see there being a lot in this game but if their is one thing for certain, it will be a much tougher fixture this time around for the Mariners than at Blundell Park back in November. 

Last five fixtures:

Southend United - DWWWW

Grimsby Town - LWWDW

Last XI:

Southend United: 1. Arnold, 3. Ralph, 5. Hobson, 10. Dalby, 11. Powell, 12. Clifford, 20. Atkinson, 22. Lopata, 24. Demetriou, 38. Husin, 39. Cardwell

Substitutes: 7. Bridge, 8. Dunne, 21. Neal, 27. Davies, 35. Kensdale

Grimsby Town: 21. Crocombe, 2. Efete, 5. Pearson, 6. Waterfall, 22. Amos, 15. Clifton, 17. Raikhy, 30. Burgess, 10. McAtee, 18. Sousa, 29. Taylor

Substitutes: 8. Coke, 9. Abrahams, 11. Scannell, 14. John-Lewis, 26. Smith

Date: Friday 18th February 2022

Location: Roots Hall 

Kick-off time: 19:45