Grimsby Town head into the weekend aiming to further improve their League Two survival hopes this season, having built a cushion over the relegation zone with an impressive run of form in recent weeks.
Consecutive home defeats to Stockport County and Doncaster Rovers in February, stretching a winless streak to six matches, left the Mariners in a concerning position on just 29 points from 31 outings, but they appear to have reversed their fortunes since, now in the midst of a six-game unbeaten run.
David Artell’s side have conceded just three goals across those last six attempts, while adding 10 crucial points to their tally, firstly beating fellow strugglers Forest Green Rovers 1-0 between draws away at Morecambe, AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United.
On their return to Blundell Park, the Mariners met promotion-chasing Milton Keynes Dons and took all three points from an impressive 1-0 victory, as Justin Obikwu netted the only goal, before they most recently travelled to Gillingham on Saturday and extended their unbeaten streak with another creditable result, playing out a 1-1 draw having gone ahead early through Donovan Wilson.
While the work is far from done in their bid to avoid the drop to the National League, Grimsby Town have built up a six-point lead over 23rd-placed Forest Green Rovers with a game in hand and nine matches left to play, and they will bid to extend their fine run and move further clear of the bottom two with a third straight home win on Saturday.
They face another tough test in a difficult schedule, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to solidify their position in the top three ahead of the run-in.
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After climbing from the National League last season, Wrexham have enjoyed a strong campaign back in England’s fourth tier, establishing themselves as frontrunners in the automatic promotion race having amassed 67 points from their 38 games thus far.
Phil Parkinson’s side were able to build a slender lead over the chasing pack with their 18th and 19th league wins of the season at the start of March, thrashing Accrington Stanley 4-0 at the Racecourse Stadium and beating Morecambe 3-1 on their travels, but they have since failed to extend a winning run and pull clear in two further attempts.
Harrogate Town visited North Wales last Tuesday and forced a share of the spoils in a goalless draw, before the Red Dragons most recently hosted Tranmere Rovers at the weekend and came away empty-handed with Luke Norris’s early goal condemning them to a 1-0 defeat.
