By Matt Hawkins
August 19 2005

Darlo travel to the seaside for their fourth match of the season, but will Hodgy change the side from last weekend's poor show? Darlo will surely be looking to silence their critics after their home defeat against Leyton Orient and prove what they're made of. Blundell Park in Cleethorpes is the site of Darlo's next match, as David Hodgson's men aim to make up for a disappointing result against Leyton Orient. While many fans have pointed out that changes need to be made to the starting line-up if we are to improve, Hodgy seems to disagree. It appears very likely that he will stick to a similar (if not identical) line-up that faced Leyton Oreint and Stockport, as follows:

================Russell=================

====Martis==Hutchinson==Clarke(c)==Valentine====

====Wainwright==Appleby==Dickman==Logan====

===========Johnson==Wijnhard=============

Personally, I feel that a few changes are necessary. Dickman and Appleby have both been unconvincing in the last couple of matches (despite Dickman's excellent performance on the first day of the season), with the central midfield seeming non-existant against Orient. Perhaps it's time to give Jameson, Webster or Peacock a go instead of Dickman, and maybe bring in Stephen Thomas ahead of Appleby.

Also, I would hate to see Martis playing at right-back again. He's clearly a centre-back and his talent is being wasted by being played as a full-back. Forget Clarke - even if he is the captain - he's not solid enough and too prone to making costly mistakes. Stick Martis in at centre-back instead. Definitely leave Hutchinson in the team as he's easily our best player, way beyond the quality of this division.

This could leave a dilemma: Who should be captain? Maybe Ryan Valentine, who knows...

I know it's very unlikely that Hodgy will make the above changes, but it would be good to see some sort of difference in the team. Some parts don't need changing at all, for example, the left-hand side. Valentine and Logan have worked very well together down the flank and I want to see more of the same. While our strike partnership hasn't been all that effective so far, I'm confident it'll pick up a bit.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens, but I predict the following:

Grimsby 1-1 Darlington

Scorers:
Gritton, Johnson

Attendance: 4,032