David Artell on where Grimsby Town must improve after last-day defeat

David Artell knows where Grimsby Town need to improve next season, with their final-day defeat to Crawley Town bringing the issues with the current squad forwards again.

The Mariners will be delighted to have finally put this campaign to bed as a club, with the team not rolling over for Crawley on Saturday but showing a lack of quality in the key areas, which has led to them finishing fourth from bottom in League Two.

Town should have gone ahead early in the contest, with a couple of great opportunities falling their way that were squandered in the end. The home team were allowed to settle and ease the nerves they would have been feeling in their pursuit of a play-off spot, with the goals changing how the rest of the afternoon unfolded.

READ MORE: Grimsby Town end season with defeat at Crawley who seal play-off place

Artell said: “I thought we were the better team, we didn’t roll over, and 2-0 flattered them. We certainly gave them a good game. We’ve had two glorious chances and three counter-attacks in the first eight minutes of the game that did not even result in a shot on goal.

“That game was a reflection of our season - we should have been three or four up before they even had a shot. If you don’t take your chances, these kinds of things can happen, and that’s what we’ve got to work on in the summer.

“I thought we controlled the game by in large but the difference is what happens in both boxes and if you don’t capitalise on opportunities then, you’re susceptible to a sucker punch and that is exactly what happened.”

Crawley had the quality in the 18-yard box that Town did not on this occasion, and that has been the case too often this term for anyone’s liking. At least for Artell, this season has now concluded, and the rest of the staff can now fully focus on building for the future.

Grimsby went away from the back three for this final game, and as expected, the team had more control in midfield, which led to more possession, but the most important part was lacking.

Artell added: “Formations are not the most important thing - it’s principles, and we controlled the game with one less defender in theory. We’ve then got to create chances off the back of it, which we did at the start of the game before everything settled down.

“In the second half, we penned them in but didn’t create anything. It followed a similar pattern to last week [against Swindon] without conceding before we brought on the substitutes that changed the game.

“We need an x-factor, and if we bring in those sorts of players then we’ll have a great chance of not repeating the same mistakes next season.”