We’ve got to give our fans something to smile about
THARME ON TOWN’S END TO THE SEASON
DOUG Tharme said the Grimsby Town players owe the supporters a strong finish in the last two matches of the season as they look to secure survival at home today. The Mariners take on Swindon Town at Blundell Park before ending the campaign away at Crawley Town.
Grimsby have shown their best and worst aspects this week, with a resounding victory over play-off team Crewe followed by a disappointing defeat to fellow strugglers Colchester United, fuelling fan frustrations over inconsistencies. The team will want to put that right with two victories to secure their EFL status on their terms and put what has been a tough season in the rearview mirror as soon and as comfortably as possible.
Tharme will no doubt have a big part to play in these last two fixtures and also moving forward. The 24-year-old has played every minute of the last 14 matches and has been one of the few positive aspects of the season as a January arrival that most view as a player that can help the team be successful in the long term.
He said about this season’s conclusion: “We have to give the fans something to smile about to end the season because there probably hasn’t been much to smile about with the position we’re in. If we can get the job done at home then we can at least show our appreciation for the supporters. “From a personal responsibility standpoint, it is our job to get the results and that is what we’re paid to do. There are so many people at the club that work hard in so many other areas to support us and keep the club running so we owe it to them as much as we do ourselves.
“We can’t pretend and say that there are no external influences on performances and we do feel it sometimes as players, and we’ve shown up in the games that we’ve really needed to win in this run and that needs to be the same approach for Saturday.
“The home form has been good recently aside from the Wrexham game, particularly in a defensive sense while converting key chances. We’ve started to look more like the team we know we can be and it’s great to see progress this late in the season but all we care about is three points.”