Artell feels Grimsby Town need to be more ruthless after disappointment at Harrogate

David Artell believes Grimsby Town’s performance against Harrogate Town showed the next steps they need to take as a team with the limitations in their game clear.

There was not much to separate the teams on Tuesday night, but the disappointing thing for Artell was to see Harrogate deal with his team as comfortably as they did, particularly in the second half.

The 48 per cent pass accuracy that the Mariners ended the game with was a clear sign of the struggles the team had with their build-up play, with the team too often settling for hopeful balls forward without drawing out the Harrogate defenders.

READ MORE: Grimsby Town narrowly beaten on the road at Harrogate

Town had plenty of entries into the opposition box via set pieces, whether it be long throws from Doug Tharme, free-kicks or corners, but the hosts were dominant in the air and with that, Grimsby had no real route to goal in a generally frustrating evening.

Artell identified the problems with his team’s performance, a symptom of their altered approach which has got them some key results but also leaves them without a solution when the opposition can deal with their game plan.

He said: “Ultimately we’ve lost to a 25-yard strike, which is a credit to their lad. I said to the players there that we’re a product of what we are at the minute and that has got us results.

“The next stage of our development is being more than a team that relies on going one goal ahead and then sitting on that lead. We were trying to get in behind, but we were just whacking the ball onto them and we needed to bring them out better.

“On the one hand I think that is a big area of improvement for us and on the other hand I think that we should be better than that already but then, we've still come a long way from where we were.

“In the first half, we didn’t create enough when we were on top, although you still felt a goal was coming, and in the second half we didn’t feel as though we were in control to create chances.

“That’s because we just kept hoping as opposed to creating purposefully and there’s a big difference in that - it’s the next stage in our work to get to that point. There was very little in the game for long periods so it was just disappointing really.”

'We’ve got to be much more ruthless'

Meanwhile, Artell has said he wants the Mariners to be more ruthless in certain situations going forward as they look to seal their fate on their terms.

Town have not been the most fluid team in terms of attacking play all season, and you have to go back to the 5-5 draw with Notts County in early January for the last time they scored more than one goal in a match.

They got none in midweek against Harrogate Town despite having plenty of deliveries into their box from set-pieces, with the accuracy of the ball in not being there nor the awareness to jump on the knock-downs and get shots away.

“That’s another element of the game that we need to improve on,” admitted Artell. “I don’t want to be ultra-critical because we’ve lost a game that probably should’ve ended 0-0.

“The criticism is valid - the situations we had to score were the same as the cracker the Harrogate player had for the goal. It doesn't matter where you score from, but we’ve got to be so much better in those situations.

“Curtis Thompson scored from one of those moments [against Bradford] but [against Harrogate] and on Saturday against Newport, we haven’t profited from those knockdowns at set-pieces. We’ve got to be much more ruthless in those situations and understand the value of them as a team.”

If Town are going to unlock opposition defences in these last four fixtures of the season, they need to continue to be opportunistic, like Danny Rose was to score in last weekend's win over Newport County, while also finding a little bit more quality in their deliveries.

Both Forest Green Rovers and Colchester United also lost on Tuesday night, so the status quo did not change in the relegation fight, but Grimsby still want to secure safety in League Two on merit by picking up the points needed to leave no doubt.

Artell added: “I’m not particularly bothered about the other teams, I’m more bothered about what we do for the rest of this season. Saturday was an opportunity that we took, [Harrogate] was an opportunity that we didn’t take.

“The fans clapped us off at the end because they could see that we’re working hard and giving everything, but we just needed a bit more quality, and we’re disappointed that we couldn’t provide that for them.

“A point would’ve been a good point here and it should’ve been a point. The others losing is a bonus that you have no control over, so, yes, it’s helpful and it is another game chalked off, but we’ve still got to win games, and that starts next Saturday at Crewe.”