Grimsby Town will be looking to pick up their first win in six games and try and reduce the nine point gap between themselves and 22nd-placed Barrow. Despite Grimsby having two games in hand on the newly-promoted Cumbrian side, things are looking bleak for The Mariners because of Barrow's recent victories against Mansfield Town and Walsall.

They come into the game off the back of two consecutive draws against Carlisle United and Colchester United but their inability to see games out and clinch all three points is worrying for the fans.

Tranmere Rovers will be looking to carry on their impressive league form after losing narrowly to League One outfit Sunderland in the Papa John's Trophy final on Sunday. Having won nine out of their 13 league games in 2021, Rovers have propelled themselves into the play-off positions and are just four points behind third-placed Forest Green Rovers with a game in hand. Having not lost an away league game since 12th December, Tranmere will be confident that they can leave Cleethorpes with all three points.

Team news

Joe Adams, Danny Rose and Stefan Payne could return to the side in the place of Julien Lamy, Giles Coke and James Hanson who all failed to impress in Grimsby's goalless draw against Colchester at the weekend.

Tranmere will be without top scorer James Vaughan because of injury which is a huge blow for them. Mark Ellis is still yet to return from his long-term injury. Nya Kirby, David Nugent and Corey Blackett-Taylor could return to the side in the place of Liam Feeney, Danny Lloyd-McGoldrick and Kieron Morris. 

Predicted lineups

Grimsby (4-4-2):

McKeown; Hendrie, Hewitt, Menayese, Clifton; Morais, Matete, Rose, Adams; Payne, John-Lewis.

Tranmere (4-2-3-1):

Davies; Khan, Clarke, Ray, MacDonald; Lewis, Spearing; Blackett-Taylor, Kirby, Woolery; Nugent.

Ones to watch

Mattie Pollock has been Grimsby's standout performer in a rather disastrous season. The 19-year-old centre-back is the club's top scorer with three goals; a stat that pretty much sums up The Mariners' season. Winning an average of 6.2 aerials per game, Pollock is dominant in the air and very rarely puts a foot wrong for Grimsby. He has also picked up four man of the match awards in the league this season.

David Nugent will have big boots to fill as he steps in for the injured Vaughan up front for Tranmere. The ex-England international has only started two games this season, picking up one assist. Wednesday's match is a real chance for him to kickstart his season and his undoubtable attacking intelligence could prove to be a real handful for Grimsby. 

Previous meetings

Tranmere will have fond memories of the reverse fixture back in November as they smashed five unanswered goals past Grimsby. Rovers were 4-0 up by the 33rd minute and added the fifth in the 86th minute. However the last time Tranmere visited Blundell Park was back in November 2018 when Grimsby beat them 5-2.

How to watch

Kick-off is at 19:00 BST on Wednesday 17th March and is available on both club's iFollow streaming service for a fee of £10.

 

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