WE’VE GOT TO HAVE BELIEF
CLIFTON ADMITS STOCKPORT WILL BE TOUGH TEST FOR TOWN
HARRY Clifton and his Grimsby Town teammates know they could not have asked for a tougher game in League Two next up as they look to reverse their poor form.
The Mariners travel to Edgeley Park to face league leaders Stockport County, who have won seven league games in a row so are looking for an eighth today.
They have lost just once at home this term in seven games and it is unlikely they could be any more confident going into a match against a battered and bruised Town team.
It has been a frustrating campaign overall for Grimsby but particularly on the road where they are yet to win with three draws – which easily could have been wins – and three defeats from six league away trips. Town did the double over Stockport last season but they are shaping up to be a whole different beast this time around, that could once again expose the faults in Paul Hurst’s team but could also provide the perfect opportunity to bounce back from a poor run in style. Clifton and company have to believe that it could be the latter, but they know the odds are stacked against them with the characters of every individual in the team being tested to make sure the downward slide does not continue today. The Grimsby-born midfielder said: “It gets no tougher than that at this moment, but this is what the league is now, there are a lot of tough games.
“We’ve maybe chucked a few points that we shouldn’t have done which has put pressure on us going into this one.
“That’s the key thing at this point because when you’re playing with the pressure we are at the moment then it tests your character and we’re going away to a team that are flying at the moment.
“Going there in the form we’re in, I don’t think many will expect us to get anything from the game but we’ve got to believe that we can off the back of a hard training week. “We’ll go there wanting maximum points just as we would going anywhere, and I’m sure that’ll be the message from the manager.
“We look back at moments this season knowing we’re not far away from things clicking but if we don’t start changing these missed opportunities into wins then we’ll remain in the same situation we’re in.”