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Newell rules out new arrivals

Image: Newell: Keeping calm

Mike Newell has played down the chances of Grimsby bringing in any new loan signings.

Mariners boss happy with his struggling squad

Grimsby boss Mike Newell has played down the chances of the Mariners bringing in any new loan signings. The club continue to languish at the wrong end of the League Two table and are the only side in the top four divisions of English football yet to win a game this season. However, former Luton manager Newell insists that his aim is to build a successful team around the players already at his disposal. "Well you can only play five at one time and we've got four with us at the moment, including (Liam) Trotter who is here in his second month," the Mariners coach told skysports.com on the prospect of fresh faces arriving at Blundell Park. "We've brought in (Robert) Atkinson, (Jean-Paul) Kalala from Oldham and (Adam) Proudlock from Darlington, so that's four. "We've got one left which we can play, so there's still a chance we could bring another in, but we really need to be forming some sort of team around the four we've already brought in."

Frustrating

Having failed to halt Grimsby's alarming slump since replacing Alan Buckley in October, Newell has revealed his frustration at the unenviable run of fixtures he has faced. "We are due something really and it's been frustrating since I've been here because every team we've played, with the exception of Luton, have been in the top five or six," he added. "We've played league leaders at the time Wycombe, Darlington, who went top when they beat us, Bradford who went up to second when they beat us, plus Exeter, who were in fifth. "So, the fixtures have been really cruel of late. I know we need to worry about our own form really, but something has got to bounce for us sooner or later and Bury have gone off the boil a little of late and there might just be an opportunity for us at the weekend."
Blow
Grimsby suffered another blow last week when Matt Heywood picked up a thigh strain, but Newell is hopeful his skipper can make a quick recovery. "He is a big player for us and he picked up a thigh strain last week, so we don't know when he'll be back," he said. "We are hopeful that he will be available for Saturday, but if not then I wouldn't think he'd miss many more after that. We need everybody fit at the moment so that we can get that first win under our belt."

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