Grimsby Town at Carlisle United: Mariners look for first away points of the season
Grimsby Town are the team that Carlisle United will welcome to Brunton Park for new boss Mike Williamson’s first home game in charge on Saturday.
After a poor start to the campaign, the Blues moved on from Paul Simpson at the end of August concluding his second spell in charge of the club, which included a promotion to League One.
Williamson was already in work at fellow League Two club MK Dons as Carlisle looked for their new manager, but his clear style of play was an attraction to them as they went and persuaded him to make the switch.
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His first game in charge away at Swindon Town went to plan, a 2-0 win, which did not change their league position of 22nd, but would have provided a major boost to the team heading into this game against the Mariners who are still looking for their first away points.
Town themselves got back to winning ways last time out, picking up their third home win in four league games and their first clean sheet, showing they can be a defensively solid team when required.
Artell will want to see a more fluid performance with the ball on Saturday, something like he saw in their last away game at Chesterfield, but the basic elements of a strong away performance need to also be there to get the right result.
The Town boss said: “We’ve said to the players already that it’s still 11 versus 11, so all this second-guessing and furore around a new manager is irrelevant because he can’t win the game from where he’s [Mike Williamson] stood and neither can I.
“It is about the guys on the pitch, so we’ve got to go with full belief that we can win the game. We’ve got to play with the same intensity and belief that we’ve done at home where we’ve won three out of four in the league.
“We’ve got to carry that form into away grounds, and if we can do that then we will be somewhere higher than 12th in the league. Play like we have done with the ball in most games and defend like we did last week [against Bromley].
“If we get those things right, then the transitions will look after themselves and we’ll win more games than we lose.”
Town know they will be without Kieran Green for the game through suspension having gone off for two yellow cards against Bromley, further limiting central midfield options. Green had started every game so far this term, as had Charles Vernam, who now knows he faces time on the sidelines again with another long-term hamstring injury.
There is a chance that Artell will change shape to cope with the fact that he only has two available central midfielders for this game, but there could also be a chance for someone like Callum Ainley who can play in that area but further forward.
Doug Tharme played his first competitive minutes last weekend off the bench and provides the option of a back three, as does Lewis Cass, but whether Artell is willing to make such a change remains to be seen.
A few are on their way back for Town from an injury perspective, but right now Artell is still tight for options and he will be hoping that does not affect the performance this weekend.