Paul Hurst wants his players to be better decision-makers on the pitch as Grimsby Town search for those incremental improvements to help them early in the season.
The Mariners continued their unbeaten start at home in the league on Saturday with a 1-1 draw against Mansfield Town, but the statistics suggest they were second-best in the game and could have come away with nothing on another day.
Mansfield had 20 shots to Grimsby’s eight and held 60 per cent of the possession with a better pass accuracy and more aerial duels won and Hurst believes the reason for that was the lack of decisiveness from his team in certain scenarios.
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He said: “With the players that we’ve got out there, we can’t make every single decision for them, we’ve got to become brighter on the pitch. As coaches, we can set them up for certain scenarios, but in the to and fro of a game, it’s not American Football where we can stop and say this is what is happening.
“We lost some discipline and know-how [against Mansfield] but we still ended up with a decent point. I’m focusing on my team, where we are and where I think we can get to but Mansfield are a good team, so the improvement from the cup game is there to see.
“There were some tired legs and tired minds in the game after the start we’ve had, but it is in those situations where you have to use your experience as a player and show a bit of know-how.
“The effort has been there but I just want the players to be smarter in certain situations. We’ve come up against some strong teams already and competed so we’re certainly not a million miles away.”
Being just four games into the league campaign, with new additions starting in several positions, there is a need for patience when it comes to getting the system and the combinations right.
However, as Hurst explained, there is some responsibility on the players to be aware of what is happening in games as situations arise, where they can not rely on their coaches to guide them through and tell them what they need to do.
Seven players have started each of the first four league games to start the campaign, so chemistry will be building within that group and with that hopefully will come greater confidence from the team overall in terms of their on-field decision-making.
Original story at https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/