Game 36 - The Mariners (H)
Team - Grimsby Town
Date - 28/02/2026 15:00
Where - Meadow Lane

What would your starting line-up be? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

I think this is going to prove to be one of the desive games which will reveal if we are a playoff contender or automatic promotion, but at the same time the result really could swing either way. I mean more about how the group of players we have handle the situation, if we can control the game and play with confidence. Grimsby won't be a pushover, and I do expect them to make things difficult.

Thier attacking threat is more of a concern, than how they defend and I can see that there's areas where we can exploit to get in behind them. Yet, it would be encouraging to see a strong performance after how we dominated Tranmere Rovers.

Gaining confidence in that manner, is something professional footballers thrive on and instead of daunting or being natural about an upcoming game, it can give players something to drive forward. I really hope the conditions do not play an impact, and that Grimsby look to play football. They can be a very good passing team, that aren't fixated on structure and can be robust when trying to break teams down.

Grimsby are a team that remind of us in past seasons. Like to play football, but have a soft side to them. We are much more aggressive in the press this year and have a more physical side to us. I think that will give us edge in this game and we can get all three points. At the same time like with any game in this league if you don't perform your best you can get beat by anyone. I think for that reason I would start Ndlovu up front and if Dennis starts play him as a 10 otherwise put him on the bench for later in the game. If Norburn and Palmer are not fit, then Iorpenda alongside Robertson would work well in midfield.

Good posts. Yes, it will be a much tougher test - Grimsby are genuine play-off candidates.

That doesn't mean we can't win handsomely.

Our players got the taste of something different last week. They were finally reminded how much better it feels to win by a big margin, and bag a lot of goals - a much better feeling than scraping by on the odd goal. They'll be hungry for that taste again. Grimsby are good but they should be worried about that.

Grimsby visit Meadow Lane having won just 1 of their last 5 League matches. Notts beat Grimsby 0:2 at Blundell Park on the 13th December. Grimsby currently stand in 12th place on 49 points in League 2, with a record so far of 13 wins, 10 draws & 9 defeats over their 32 matches.

Notts have a good record against Grimsby since their return to League 2. Notts are unbeaten in the 5 matches played with 4 wins & a draw, the draw being the unforgettable 5:5 draw at Blundell Park on the 13th Jan 2024.

Notts will be hoping to repeat their great performance, which they achieved against Tranmere last Saturday, when they recorded their biggest win under Martin Paterson, an emphatic 5:0 win which would have had the rest of League sitting up & taking notice.

Grimsby will be a much bigger test for Notts this Saturday, & they must not be underestimated. They will bring a large following with them & it should be a bumper crowd at Meadow Lane with a great atmosphere.

Notts will be hoping that Ollie Norburn has recovered from his knock against Tranmere, & there is more encouraging news about Palmer & Jatta getting closer to fitness, that could see one of them make the bench on Saturday.

I expect to see Lee Ndlovu lead the Notts line after his great performance against Tranmere. Matt Dennis may start the match just behind him. Upfront for Notts will be a key area for me. If Notts can continue with their good form & take their chances, we should see a Notts win on Saturday. My score 3:1 to Notts.

This is one match I always look forward to, there’s usually a great atmosphere with lots of travelling supporters. I’m looking forward to seeing Notts carry on where they left off last week. We are definitely good enough to win this but it needs the players to turn up and play at the highest level they can.

Listened to Martin Paterson's pre Grimsby presser.

Regarding injuries, Ollie Norburn's is not as serious as first thought, & he'll be back earlier than expected. Matt Palmer is training so Martin & his staff will be getting involved with him.

Alassana Jatta is getting close, very close, but Martin reiterated that the players currently in the side are holding the batton & it appears that Martin doesn't want to have to rush those injured players back too quickly.

I got that Martin didn't want to give too much away to the opposition, so whether we will see any of those three players back on Saturday, is open to conjecture. I would bet against it.

If the boys have fun and enjoy the task in front of them as they did against Tranmere we will win, if they get nervous and tight things could turn into a nightmare. My feelings are we have set several precedences over the previous few weeks which to me give us the advantage for a comfortable win, not without hard work though. COYP.

Notts team to meet Grimsby.

Just Bennetts in for Hinchy I think...

Unchaned as expected. COYP!

15mins to go Cambridge 0 MK 0, hope it stays that way

Putting a curse on it but ... after the earlier result, if Notts win by 2 goals today we go second I think?

Edited February 28Feb 28 by Sheffield Pie

A mess.

I don't want to blame the ref - we weren't good enough.

Our achilles heel - poor No.10 play - continues to drag us down. Kouhyar was poor for two straight games. Both had to come off and the replacements were no real improvement. And we just can't get goals from that position.

What happened (or didn't) in the 1st half contributed even more to the defeat than the 2nd.

A very dissapointing defeat for Notts today.

We missed Norburn today. He's been on top form and he gives such a lot to that central midfield area. I also think that Martin got it wrong tactically in the 2nd half. I think defensively Enoru looks a bit lacking. I think he will need time to improve in that area

The Ref wasn't very good & the sending off was dubious, but the sending off is not the reason for this defeat. We missed our chances, & in a close game like this one,, that can prove decisive. Grimsby took their opportunity & stayed firm at the back. They won the tactical battle.

Notts just have to move on & bounce back away to Walsall, which will be a very hard task. I think that Notts have to concentrate on getting enough points to ensure a playoff place. I'm not sure that we have enough consistency to make the autos. And injuries & suspensions aren't helping us.

Up to date League 2 table after today's games. Notts still have an 8 point cushion to the team in 8th place.

One of those days so we'll take it on the chin and move on. The sending off was harsh. I don't think anyone will say different.

Take away the disappointment of losing, and to such a close rival. It seemed always likely, at least to me, that the game would be decided by a single goal. I also felt especially in the first half, that we would have loved a squad which competed as Notts did in the first half previous seasons as we have been a team that tends to go into these games rather flat and empty.

Notts did very well to win the ball back, Grimsby at times only did enough to prevent us causing them trouble and I wasn't all that impressed except for how they worked the ball when attacking.

They have a fast thought process which opened a lot of space, which did take them time to achieve and defensively we coped for the majority. I think what took the game out of our control is the sending off, I won't debate that because it happened so fast and I am yet to re-see it. The decision to take off both wing backs in Nick Tsaroulla, Jodi Jones and Lewis Macari.

I actually would have preferred to keep both Tsaroulla and Macari on.

Whilst the referee was fine in the first half, he did quickly start to lose the second half. No matter what is done, I do not like seeing our players lash out, and it's not the first time this season Matthew Dennis has been lucky not to have been red carded himself. Why do some of our players fall for these mind games, where the opposition wants to look like the innocent party? Where does physically pushing a player to the ground warrant smart play in football?

The defeat is disappointing but the performance was better for such an occasion considering previous encounters too.

It's a pity@Chris that we squandered the confidence boost of a 5-0, now we'll have to try to win that back, starting at Walsall.

MP rightly criticised the 1st half. This time it wasn't down to the defenders not being able to move the ball fast enough. We just weren't ready to play from the first whistle.

In the MoM thread you're right to mention Tsaroulla and Robertson. But I'll throw in a caveat and it's something I've noticed in recent matches - some of our players regularly make slow starts. This is especially Robertson, Tsaroulla and Jones - from 0-20mins they're nowhere near their level of play from 20-90mins.

Add this to Grant and Kouhyar putting in typically toothless Notts No. 10 performances and you have the answer as to why we wasted a full half of a home game, hardly troubling the opposition.

56 minutes ago, theAnticlough said:

It's a pity@Chris that we squandered the confidence boost of a 5-0, now we'll have to try to win that back, starting at Walsall.

Absolutely, agree.

I think Martin Paterson having that winning mentality will remind the players that blips happen, and that if they work hard as a team those types of wins are possible. Provided we proect James Belshaw from driven shots, and he makes those important saves (which to his credit he did against Grimsby). We'll be fine, the issue of Matt Dennis being our only option, due to the suspension of Lee Ndlovu, is only a short term issue.

After the game I heard the thoughts from Mark Stallard, and I personally feel we managed at the start of the season so we can hope Alassana Jatta is close to a return but even if Ndlovu returns first. We dictate the flow of games by establishing a solid defense and demonstrating resilience and creativity in midfield.

1 hour ago, theAnticlough said:

In the MoM thread you're right to mention Tsaroulla and Robertson. But I'll throw in a caveat and it's something I've noticed in recent matches - some of our players regularly make slow starts. This is especially Robertson, Tsaroulla and Jones - from 0-20mins they're nowhere near their level of play from 20-90mins.

I don't think it's so much 'performance' with Nick Tsaroulla, I think Lewis Macari takes time to support him but they have a decent understanding. The passing back, and slowness is mostly caused by us not being direct enough in my opinion. We anticipate that Tsaroulla will deliver an extraordinary performance, a prospect that seems quite plausible without the right support from midfield. However, I must acknowledge that Jodi Jones does have a tendency to approach things with a more laid-back attitude. I think he was concerned about previous encounters against Grimsby, hence why he never really had that spark.

Scott Robertson for me was one of the players who would be quick to win the ball back, but he did make easier passes rather than ones which could move us forward.

That said, again it's about the players around making space and giving options and for the first 30 minutes it was a bit scrappy. Yet, Notts were on top and it wasn't until Grimsby had a close effort on goal that they really looked like any real trouble.

I just think that winning just one of our last four matches points to the fact that we are missing Jatta, & we definitely missed Norburn too against Grimsby.

According to Martin, they are both getting back to fitness along with Palmer, I hope they are ready to play against Walsall. Norburn & Jatta in particular, would make a big difference at both ends of the pitch.

i can see what martin paterson tried to do with the subs but it felt like the wrong time to make the changes at least to me, i dont think you can change so much when you lose a player and the games starting to get blown open. yes the referee did not handle the game all that well, but i do think the sending off was the right call but its his poor control that i point out. missed some fouls, and played on. grimsby was not bad, but their defence should have been beaten. i would have been happy with a draw. i also hate how keepers go down when the pressure is on, they should be forced to go off like outfield players because it wont happen but it cant happen really.

I like Grant and Kouhyar, I think they offer a lot and improve us. Unfortunately, neither has been much of a threat in the final third, but both serve the team well in other ways (IMO we look better as a team when Grant plays). You can have one player like that, but having two just behind your main striker (who isn't exactly a golden boot candidate himself) isn't a recipe for goals galore.

We really stepped it up in the second half - we started taking risks and creating chances - and I thought we were much the likelier team to win it until the sending off, which was followed by a frankly stupid triple substitution and an unnecessary goal. And even after that we had a couple of good chances to equalise.

We're a good side, accidents happen. Let it be a lesson. Among other things, certain players need to learn to stay cool under pressure and to play to the whistle (Mr Jones I'm looking at you). We need to dust ourselves down and be back on our A game on Saturday.

Probably different cases @DangerousSausage. There's nothing too wrong with our formation or attacking intent, it's just a personnel issue. Our promotion-clinching No.10 was scoring a hat-trick at Orient at the same time.

I'd predict MP calling time on Kouhyar now. In a similar way that he turned against Roos after C'Field. He's been a lively sub for us (albeit w/out goals and assists) but that's 3 starts now in which he's looked nothing like that player who can give a nice 10min cameo.

We all know now what Grant does and what he doesn't do. If we had a productive alternative, his lack of output would have consigned him to the fringes. Both Luker and Hall were ahead of him previously.

That this was our main area of weakness going into the Jan window was obvious to all. We were interested in Ruben of course but that was the longest of long shots. Monty's answer in the end.....Tangan. I hope this season doesn't pass by without him getting the same chance Kouhyar's just had.

I've kind of given up on this weakness in the team being solved this season and there are only 12 (or 15 games left). We have to muddle through and hope MP can come up with something on a match-by-match basis. Can we get 2 or 3 more of early-season performances from Hall for example. Can we ever surprise a team by playing JJ or Tsaroulla there. Or throw in a totally different formation...