Grimsby Town v Walsall: Mariners look to tell a different story from last season's 6-1 thrashing
Grimsby Town will look to write a much different story about this season's home meeting with Walsall, with last season’s thrashing still fresh in the mind.
This fixture last term, which fell on New Year’s Day, was the beginning of the end for David Artell's attempt to introduce his preferred style to the team he had at the time, as they were pumped 6-1 in the first of a few heavy home defeats.
Much has changed in Town since then, with the team put together over the summer on a positive development path, which has seen them win four of their last five league outings.
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Positive changes have been made at Walsall, too, which sees them in fourth place heading into this weekend as joint top-scorers in League Two with 19 goals from ten games.
In his second full season as Walsall boss, Mat Sadler has turned the team into an offensive juggernaut, with their overall xG the highest in the fourth tier despite having the third-lowest average possession percentage (42.9%).
They have been deadly in transition and picked teams off that way, just as they did to Town at Blundell Park last term at an earlier stage of their development.
Sadler told the Express and Star: “I remember that game [6-1 at Grimsby], and the number of fans that came on New Year’s Day was amazing, considering all the games we’d had over Christmas.
“The supporters have continued ever since and also before that. We want to keep giving them good memories and good moments and keep building and progressing with them at the forefront.
“Desperate to get a good away win, and then we’ll be back at home on Tuesday. The next game is the most important, and at the end of the season, we’ll say how good our home or away form was.
“Hopefully, we’ll be right up there by that stage, but it's still very early, and we’ve got plenty of points to play for.”
That 6-1 defeat in the last meeting was an eye-opener for Artell, who has since let nine of the 11 players who started that day leave the club. He saw a few players unwilling to dig in when the going got tough, a characteristic that looks to be present in this current group.
Walsall will be just as tough, if not tougher, to play against this time, but Artell is confident that Town are better equipped for the challenge now.
He explained: “It wasn’t just on that game [the 6-1 defeat], but it did give me a good insight. There were some that just gave up, which is not in my nature nor what I demand, and that is just about a professional footballer who gets paid well for doing his job, no matter the score.
“They were all there when we played well for the first 40 minutes, but they were gone after being punched in the nose either side of half-time. That is no reason to go away from what you were doing well.
“We’ve not always played well this season, but we’ve shown that other side that makes sure we don’t lose in recent games. We didn’t have that last year until the end, and now we’ve got to blend playing football with the resilience.
“[Walsall] are a good team; they’re further in their development cycle than we are, and it will be a really tough test. It’s one that we’re fully capable of overcoming and looking forward to.”
Grimsby were beaten before the game really got going last time they were at home, the 3-0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers, so they will need to channel the resiliency they have shown on the road to beat this Walsall side.