League Two Form Guide

		P	GD	Pts
1	MK Dons	6	+7	15
2	Port Vale	6	+5	15
3	Crewe	6	+5	12
4	Grimsby	6	-2	10
5	Accrington Stanley	6	+3	9
6	Walsall	6	+1	9
7	Salford	6	+1	9
8	Doncaster	6	+1	9
9	Notts County	6	0	9
10	Chesterfield	6	+2	8
11	Bradford	6	+1	8
12	Cheltenham	6	0	8
13	AFC Wimbledon	6	+2	7
14	Bromley	6	0	7
15	Harrogate Town	6	-1	7
16	Tranmere	6	-3	7
17	Fleetwood Town	6	-2	6
18	Morecambe	6	-7	6
19	Swindon	6	-3	5
20	Newport County	6	-3	5
21	Carlisle	6	-6	5
22	Colchester	6	-2	4
23	Gillingham	6	-5	4
24	Barrow	6	-4	3

Full Form Table
Prem|Champ|L1|NL|VN|VS
SPL|SC|S1|S2

Question of the Week

Is football a business or a sport?

Him Again!

Blackburn v Grimsby Preview

By: Alex Green
Date: 26/08/2008

THE Mariners travel to perennial mid table finishers Blackburn Rovers in the hope of another Carling Cup upset and a much needed win for Buckley

Home > 2008-2009 Season > Previews > Blackburn (a)

The Opposition

Overview

In 2001 the Mariners were well and truly beaten 4-1 in front of Sky cameras against a Blackburn side on their way to making an immediate return to the Premiership after their relegation the season previous. Seven years on and the two teams could hardly be further apart league status wise, financially, operationally and well in everything else you could probably think of. It’s a harsh reminder to us Town fans who remember that night in April as Luke Cornwall gave us a slight chance at 3-1. Now the Mariners face bigger, deeper wounds to our pride and footballing pedigree. As Blackburn reach for the Uefa Cup and are trying to build a team to maybe one day challenge the top four, us lot here look at a way to beat Brentford next time around.

The Team

Our friendly Wembley victor Mr Ince is well on his way to establishing himself as a top flight manager. From managing the not so mighty Macclesfield to the slightly more impressive Rovers in just two years is a great feat even for a man with Ince’s pedigree. Ince already had an incredibly strong squad when he arrived in the northwest as Mark Hughes had managed to build a team easily capable of competing in Europe at some stage. With the recent contract extension of fans' favourite Roque Santa Cruz pledging himself to the club for another four years things are looking good at Blackburn. The Pre-season acquisitions of Paul Robinson was as good a replacement as you can find for the sometimes unstoppable Brad Freidel but the departure of David Bentley will be on which still leaves some Blackburnites a little worried about the season ahead.

One to Watch

MortenGamst Pedersen. None of us know what sort of team Ince will plan to face us on Wednesday night. Ince may want a chance of a major bit of silverware in his first year and go out all guns blazing or he may remember we were pretty toothless at Wembley so maybe he can risk resting some of his elite. If we face some of his top players we will be in for a great game and one our squad should face up to strongly and if we have that challenge ahead of us none will be more closely watched then Morten Gamst Pedersen The Norwegian international is one of the creative sparks in a hard working side. His occasional eye for goal and amazing technical ability gives him an edge much needed in the Premiership. His passing can a split a defence instantly and with time on the ball Town best be awake.

Recent Form

Town

Blackburn

L	Chesterfield	(h)	0-1
L	Brentford	(a)	0-4
W	Tranmere	(h)	2-0
D	Rochdale	(h)	0-0

Currently 17th in League Two.

D	Hull	(h)	1-1
W	Everton	(a)	3-2

Currently 3rd in Premiership.

Team News (by Ryan Robinson)

Town

Blackburn

Grimsby are hoping for an improvement from the last two games when they were an utter shambles.

Danny Boshell is expected to start in midfield and right back Robbie Stockdale could be a shock starter.

Burly defender Richard Hope is also pushing to prove himself for the game which should provide stability at the back again.

I'm expecting Taylor and Butler to start up front again as they have been looking like a solid partnership. I'm expecting Buckley to drop Heslop to the bench.

Blackburn are expected to put out a strong team as Former MK Dons manager Paul Ince will be looking to make it four Games unbeaten against the Mariners, With him saying on Rovers' web site "We want to win every game - it's as simple as that" and "the expectation is for us to go out there and stamp our authority on the game and that's what we will be out to do. It won't be easy, But we are looking forward to the tie"

He could also give a debut to new Austrian midfielder Vince Grella who he has signed tonight from Torino. Three other players have been handed squad numbers before tomorrow nights game, Youngsters Bryan Hodge, Alex Marrow and Marcus Marshall have been handed 31,36 and 37. These could play at least some part in the game.

A few players won't be playing tomorrow night though, due to injuries This includes Swiss international Johann Vogel, Martin Olsson and David Dunn are all expected to miss out. Paul Ince could Give Benni McCarthy a game alongside Carlos Villanueva who is expected to start.

Paul Ince is expected to choose between the following players: Robinson,Ooijer,Samba,Nelsen,Warnock,Emerton,Reid,Mokoena,Pedersen, Santa Cruz (Julio and Roque),Roberts,Brown,Tugay,McCarthy,Kizanishvili, Villanueva and Youngsters Simpson,Treacy,Judge,Derbyshire,Kane,Gallagher and Hodge. Whoever he chooses from will be sure to give the Mariners a tough game. I'm Expecting him to mix seniors and youngsters together.

Squads

Town

Blackburn

1	GK	Phil Barnes
2	DF	Robbie Stockdale
3	DF	Tom Newey
4	DF	Ryan Bennett
5	DF	Matthew Heywood (c)
6	DF	Richard Hope
7	MF	Peter Till
8	MF	Paul Bolland
9	FW	Martin Butler
10	MF	Chris Llewellyn
11	MF	Danny Boshell
12	DF	Jamie Clarke
13	GK	Gary Montgomery
14	MF	James Hunt
15	DF	Matthew Bird
17	MF	Nick Hegarty
18	MF	Peter Bore
19	FW	Danny North
20	FW	Andy Taylor
21	MF	Simon Heslop
22	FW	Nathan Jarman
23	MF	Grant Normington
24	GK	Leigh Overton

1	GK	Paul Robinson
2	DF	André Ooijer
3	DF	Stephen Warnock
4	DF	Christopher Samba
5	MF	Tugay Kerimoglu
6	DF	Ryan Nelsen (captain)
7	MF	Brett Emerton
8	MF	David Dunn (vice-captain)
9	FW	Roque Santa Cruz
10	FW	Benni McCarthy
12	MF	Morten Gamst Pedersen
13	DF	Zurab Khizanishvili
14	MF	Johann Vogel
15	DF	Aaron Mokoena
16	MF	Steven Reid
18	FW	Paul Gallagher
19	MF	Carlos Villanueva (loan from Audax Italiano)
21	MF	Sergio Peter
22	DF	Danny Simpson (loan from Manchester United)
24	MF	Keith Treacy
25	MF	Alan Judge
26	FW	Julio Santa Cruz
27	FW	Matt Derbyshire
28	DF	Tony Kane
29	MF	Martin Olsson
30	FW	Jason Roberts
32	GK	Jason Brown
33	GK	Frank Fielding
35	DF	Eddie Nolan
?	MF	Vincenzo Grella
?	FW	Robbie Fowler
?	GK	Ohad Levite (On Trial)

Head to Head

Grimsby have never won at Blackburn's ground in 30 attempts, and have only come away with a draw 9 times! The first meeting in 1889 set the trend when Town were dumped out the cup 3-0 by Rovers at Ewood Park.

P 90 W 39 D 24 L27 F145 A 116

Blackburn Head-to-Head (100th on The Opposition Ladder)

Last Meeting

Grimsby 4 Blackburn 1 (Tue 24th April 2001)

Towm were thumped 4-1 at home to Rovers in the third last game of the season, a season in which they managed to survive after winning the final home game 1-0 to Fulham.

Report

Prediction

The Mariners will need a much-improved performance after their defeat on Saturday but we make a habit of good Carling Cup games maybe this can kick start everything

Blackburn 0 Grimsby 1

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League Two Form Guide

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Blackburn v Grimsby Preview

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