Grimsby Town manager Michael Jolley says he was “proud” of the Mariners’ performance in their 1-0 Sky Bet League Two win over MK Dons at Blundell Park.
Wes Thomas’ 27th-minute header was enough to secure Town’s first three points of 2019, despite Harry Davis’ red card four minutes before the break.
And Town boss Jolley said he was pleased with his side’s performance – both before and after the sending off.
Speaking on iFollow Mariners, he said: “I am proud of my players tonight. We’ve had several situations of adversity recently – we’re almost getting accustomed to playing with 10 players on the pitch.
“And I was really happy with how I started the game – when it was 11 v 11 I thought we were the better side, and I thought we deservedly went in front.
“Obviously the red card changes everything in the game – it made it much more difficult for us.
“But the way we worked, the way we defended, the way we stuck in there and fought to get the three points, I thought it was tremendous, so well done to all the players – I thought it was a great effort!”
And Jolley praised his players for the way they reacted to going a man down.
He said: “We changed our system – immediately after Harry Davis was shown the red card – to a back four.
“And unfortunately we had to leave Wes Thomas on his own, which is not something we wanted to do.
“But in those circumstances we didn’t have too much choice, but basically that’s what saw us through for the rest of the game.”
Town welcome Newport County to Blundell Park next Saturday, with the aim of making it back-to-back victories.
