Grimsby Town manager Michael Jolley was pleased with his young players’ performance despite their 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat to Scunthorpe United at Blundell Park.

The Mariners lost their opening game of the competition, despite Harry Cardwell’s second-half goal, after a brace from Scunthorpe striker Kevin van Veen.

But Town boss Jolley was impressed with his young players’ performance, including 17-year-old captain Mattie Pollock.

Speaking on iFollow Mariners, he said: “It’s a strange thing to say given that we lost the game to our local rivals, but I was delighted with the performance of the young players.

“I thought they had a right go, and it was a very even game. We created as many chances as Scunthorpe and, but for a bit of luck, we could’ve won or drawn the game.

“So in terms of what we set out to do, and seeing where our young players are at, it was a good exercise for us.

“It was the right thing to do to pick a young team. My job title is manager – it’s my job to manage the resources that we’ve got.

“We’ve got games every Saturday and Tuesday for the next month so it’s important that we protect the starting first-team players who have been in the team for the time being.

“And also we want to develop the younger players – we finished with four scholars on the pitch.

“We had two 17-year-olds – a 17-year-old captain in Mattie Pollock – and the average age of the team was 20 or 21.

“So in terms of bringing our younger players through I think it was a really good exercise.”

Watch the full press conference for free on iFollow Mariners.