Newport County and Grimsby Town face each other this Saturday (07 Feb) in EFL League Two.
Newport must pick themselves up after defeat at Bristol Rovers left them stuck in the relegation zone.
Grimsby have ambitions of a play-off spot after hitting a superb run of form.
State of Play
1,364 County fans travelled to the Memorial Stadium last Saturday, only for Newport to get blown away by The Gas.
Christian Fuchs now faces a huge month of fixtures, with four away games to come before the beginning of March.
This is one of only two at Rodney Parade in February, with County needing to harness their recent uplift in home form to their advantage.
The Exiles are still only three points behind Shrewsbury Town in 22nd, and could potentially be out of the bottom two should they win on Saturday.
Our Opponents
Grimsby Town have endured a season full of ups and downs so far.
They started well and found themselves in the top three at the beginning of October, before a torrid run of results prior to Christmas sent them as low as 15th.
But The Mariners started the year on fire, winning five consecutive league games, all by a 1-0 scoreline.
They came from 2-0 down to draw with promotion contenders Milton Keynes on Saturday, and claimed 13 points from a possible 15 last month.
They now have their eyes set on a play-off spot, with just four points separating them and seventh-placed Walsall.
What They Said
Grimsby manager David Artell has emphasised that his team are in for a battle in this fixture.
“They’ve turned a corner, certainly at home.
“It’s not going to be an easy game, it never is when you go down there and you’ve got all those South Walians shouting their head off at you.
“We’ve got to be bang at it, because if you’re not, like Chesterfield and Crewe, you’ll get found out.
“They’ve got a decent manager who asks plenty of questions of the opposition. We have to be prepared for them.”
Head-to-Heads
Grimsby have the upper hand in battles between the sides, winning 20 to Newport’s 15.
There have also been 12 draws since they first met in 1921.
However, the most impactful game between the two in recent times went the way of County, who won 2-0 on aggregate in the Conference play-offs back in 2013 to eventually clinch their promotion to the EFL.
Newport haven’t beaten their opponents since the COVID-impacted season of 2020-21, when they claimed a 1-0 victory in February 2021.
The last two visits to Rodney Parade for Grimsby have both ended in draws.
