Grimsby Town manager Michael Jolley was pleased with his side’s performance despite the result in their 2-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Peterborough United at Blundell Park.

The Posh scored two wonder-goals either side of the break, through Mo Eisa and former Town winger Siriki Dembele, as the Mariners ended their pre-season programme with defeat.

But Town boss Jolley believes his side are now ready for the Sky Bet League Two 2019-20 season-opener with Morecambe at the Globe Arena next Saturday (3pm).

Speaking on iFollow Mariners, he said: “We probably played better than last week, and were unfortunate to lose the game.

“But it’s not about results at this stage – it’s about building into next week, and I saw lots of positives in terms of our performance.

“The stuff we’ve been working on in terms of trying to get the ball into the box in dangerous areas more frequently, and I think people could see that was on show.

“We wanted a real game because it’s going to be a real game next week and the subsequent 45 games after that.

“It was a good game for us to prepare against a really strong Peterborough team, but we’re happy with where we’re at.

“Of course you never like to lose a game, but the results matter from next week onwards.”

And Jolley said he’s pleased with the progress of the club’s youth academy graduates who are now featuring in the first-team.

He said: “We’ve got Harry Clifton, Max Wright, Mattie Pollock, and Ahkeem Rose, and they’re all big parts of the team.

“A huge credit to them – Ahkeem will play a significant role for us in our attacking unit this year.

“And Mattie – every time we ask a question of him, he seems to answer it resoundingly.

“He’s played against Mo Eisa and Ivan Toney today, and handled them both really, really well, so he’s going to be a really good player.

“We’ve only got three centre-halves in the club at the moment so he’s got the same chance as the other two – Harry Davis and Ludvig Öhman.

“But that’s still an area that we need to add more to the squad, so he’s certainly got a chance because of his performances in pre-season.”

Jolley confirmed that he will reveal his captain ahead of the 2019-20 season this week.

He also said that Öhman and Moses Ogbu will be available for the Morecambe clash next weekend, after they both missed the Peterborough defeat with knocks.

Charles Vernam should be available to make the 18-man squad, while Harry Cardwell and Liam Gibson are expected to be fit for the first home game against Bradford City on August 10.