LET’S END THE JOB AT B.P.
ARTELL WANTS TOWN TO COMPLETE BID FOR SAFETY AT HOME
DAVID Artell wants jGrimsby Town to confirm their EFL status their way today as they welcome Swindon Town to Blundell Park.
The Mariners face their home fans for the final time this season with just one more game away at Crawley Town to follow, and the task of picking up at least a point to confirm survival remains. Sutton United need to win their game today to have any chance of keeping Grimsby within reach for the final day, but Town would much prefer to do it on their terms in front of their home fans, who deserve something to cheer.
Once their work for this season concludes, Grimsby have a lot of work to do to make sure next year goes differently. However, the immediate focus is on ending things the right way in these final two matches.
Artell said: “If we perform well, as we have done recently at home, then we’ll be fine.
“It will be a relief [to secure survival], and I would much prefer to do it in front of a full home crowd than at Crawley.
“I can’t fault the fans for the support they have shown us, they have followed us the length and breadth of the country, and BP has been a fantastic place by and large to play.
“We’ve got to make sure that we, as players and staff, give them something to celebrate.
“I would’ve taken the survival battle ending in any way at one point, but I would prefer now to do it with a win in front of our fans. “The most important thing is that by the end of play on Saturday, we’re assured of our EFL status, and I’m sure we will be.
“We’ve got work to do regardless of how we secure survival, and we’ve got a job to do first to make 100 per cent certain of that, and it will help if we do it in the right fashion to show progress moving into the summer.”
Town’s opponents Swindon have had an unremarkable season, sitting just two places above the Mariners in 19th with nothing but pride and the chance to finish a few positions higher to play for at this stage. Former Grimsby player Gavin Gunning leads the team as interim head coach for a third time after another year of changes in the dugout for the Robins, but Artell, as usual, just wants his team to focus on their own performance. He added: “I’m sure Gavin [Gunning] will have them fired up, and they’ve had some good results recently, so it doesn’t look to me like they are concentrating on anything other than football right now. “We’ve just got to try and beat whatever is put in front of us in whatever way they come prepared – we’ve got to make sure we turn up. “It’s about us, we did okay without being ruthless on Tuesday night, so we’ve got to improve on that.
“The main aim of Saturday is to take care of our own business and get at least a point performing the way we know we can at home.”