Town head to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday afternoon (3pm) in the final game of the season after securing safety last weekend.
Michael Jolley’s side secured their place in League Two for next season after the 2-1 victory over Notts County, and they will now be looking to finish the season on a positive note and continue a run that has only seen the Mariners lose one of their last five games.
With Forest Green also safe after getting themselves out of trouble, there is nothing riding on the game in terms of league position, but it has been proven time and time again how important a positive finish to the season can be over the years.
Dembele and Vernon could miss out
There are no fresh injuries for the Mariners but Siriki Dembele and Scott Vernon are both still carrying knocks so are doubts to make their final appearance of the season.
Zak Mills, Paul Dixon and Charles Vernam remain missing as expected, whilst it remains to be seen if it will be the final game in a Town shirt with decisions to be made in the coming weeks.
Forest Green have a full squad to choose from after goalkeeper Brad Collins was passed fit after suffering a concussion a fortnight ago, so there are no injury worries for Mark Cooper’s side.
Forest Green survive first season in the EFL
Forest Green have struggled more than they may have expected this campaign, but boss Mark Cooper has done well to steer the club to safety and they will be looking to build on this experience.
Cooper took charge in May 2016, sitting in the dugout for Town’s 3-0 Promotion Final victory against Rovers at Wembley Stadium before going on to earn promotion in the same fashion last season with a victory against Tranmere Rovers in the final.
His side started the season poorly and found themselves in the bottom three throughout the early months, but the club kept faith in him and the former Darlington and Peterborough United boss will now be looking to end his season in positive fashion at the weekend.
Rovers have relied on the goals of Christian Doidge for much of the season, with the 25-year-old Welshman hitting 25 goals in 48 games so far this campaign, so he is certainly one to watch out for.
Last time out
The reverse fixture between the two sides saw Town win 1-0 at Blundell Park back in December.
A Mitch Rose goal was the difference that day as the Mariners finished 2017 with a victory, whilst they were also reduced to ten men when received his marching orders..
The two sides have met 14 times over the years and the Mariners have an impressive record, winning nine of those encounters and drawing three, with Forest Green coming out on top on two occasions.
Form guide
Forest Green: LLLWLLWWDL
Town: LDLLDLWDWW
Managers in summary
Michael Jolley: ‘‘I think they’re a good side, they’ve got some good players and Mark likes his sides to play very good football and credit to him for that because in League Two it’s not always easy to do that. He’s very strong on his principles and I respect him for that. I think they’ve got some good players and have ended strongly. They were in around the bottom two but have lifted themselves out of there and credit to them for that.”
Mark Cooper: ”We want to win, we want to get to 50 points and finish the season off in good fashion. It will carry into next season. At no point did we ever want to be battling on the last game to stay up. We made sure that didn’t happen and Grimsby did it last week so it is a game both teams can try and enjoy.”
