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The Bottom Line

A bumper crowd is expected at Blundell Park on Tuesday night with Town fans expected to take advantage of the reduced £5 admission price. Town have opened up the Osmond Stand for home fans to watch the relegation battle, which they hope will end in three points. Town's performances and indeed their points haul in the last two game has really given the Mariners confidence that they can climb the table and avoid relegation. Since Paul Groves took over from Lennie Lawrence in December, Town have conceded just seven goals in the last nine league games. That amounts to four clean sheets - pretty impressive considering that since October Town only managed two under Lennie Lawrence.

This is all seems pretty rosy - Grovesy and Graham Rodger have got the defence sorted and we are now a difficult side to beat, unlike when earlier in the season our defence was being sliced open like a knife through butter. But the difference between Town staying up and going down will be how many Town score. Under Groves, Town have managed just five goals in nine league games and the result tonight will surely just depend on whether Town manage to score. If you go by the league table, Town SHOULD manage it against a side who have conceded 80 goals, but in football you never know. Stockport will want to show that they are still worthy of division one football despite the fact that they will probably go down and any Town fan expecting Town to automatically win would be foolish to think so. The arrival of Andy Todd and Martin Pringle from Charlton has boosted everyone connected with the club and a big crowd tonight will hopefully get the players and the club the result they need, but there is no room for complacency from anyone.

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Last Time Out

The last time the two sides met head to head was when Town were in the dizzy heights of the top half of the table. The Mariners had just lost 5-0 to Crystal Palace and the draw seemed like a good result to "steady the ship". But when Town look back on it now, the draw seems like two points dropped. The score ended 3-3 with Jonny Rowan, Wayne Burnett and Stuart Campbell with the Town goals.

Grimsby: Coyne, McDermott, Gallimore, Groves, Beharall, Campbell, Butterfield (Boulding), Burnett, Willems, Rowan (Broomes), Jeffrey (Allen)  Report

Stockport Head-to-Head (17th on The Opposition Ladder).

Fishy Prediction

Town have got to win this match to have any chance of staying up. Although I must say that I have a gut feeling that Town will NOT win, I have to really put down what I hope will happen. With a bit of luck, it will and Town will start to rise through the division one table!!

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