Michael Jolley Pre-Macclesfield Town Press Conference

Manager Michael Jolley says it’s important that Grimsby Town focus solely on their Carabao Cup round two tie with Macclesfield Town at Blundell Park on Tuesday (7.45pm).

The Mariners host the Silkmen in round two of the competition tomorrow – after the tie was postponed at the end of August due to bad weather – with the winners facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, September 25 (7.45pm).

And Town boss Jolley has emphasised the importance of his side remaining fully-focused on Macclesfield Town, and avoiding the distraction of a potential tie with Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.

Speaking on iFollow Mariners, he said: “It’s important that everybody just focuses on the game. Macclesfield are on the same amount of points as us in the league.

“They’ve lost two games all season so you can see they’re a hard team to beat, and they’ll be fired up for the game just as we are.

“And they’ll be trying to get themselves to Stamford Bridge, so it’s really important that we just focus on the game and trying to beat Macclesfield.

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“It’s clearly a massive game for both ourselves and Macclesfield – there’s a big carrot for both teams.

“It’s unusual to have a game like this in a cup competition where you do know that the outcome will be a big tie in the next round.

“The prize is clear for both teams. Both managers, both sets of players, and both sets of fans would love the opportunity to go and pit their wits against a team like Chelsea.

“But we can’t think, or talk, about that too much until we know whether that’s happening.

“Because if Macclesfield get through to play Chelsea we’ll wish them good luck, but if we get through we can think about that then.

“It’s a massive game for both teams, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Jolley hopes his side can make their presence known in tomorrow’s game and return to winning ways, after Saturday’s 2-0 Sky Bet League Two defeat to Crewe Alexandra.

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He said: “We’ve got to impose our identity on the game.

“When we’re at our best there are balls going into the box, we mix the game up in terms of playing from side to side, playing in behind people, and getting on the outside and getting crosses in.

“We need to make sure that, as well as being defensively sound, we make good use of the ball and we get good service to our strikers.

“Macclesfield are a good team – they’ve only lost two games so far this season so we’re under no illusions it’s going to be another difficult match.

“So we’ll be picking a team that gives us the best chance to win the game.”

Ahkeem Rose could be involved in the game, while Harry Davis remains out with his dislocated shoulder.

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