Grimsby Town bosses in no rush for new recruit
GRIMSBY Town's bosses will resist the urge to dip back into the loan market – despite having no specialist cover in central defence.
Shaun Pearson will sit out tonight's Conference clash at Forest Green Rovers with a knee injury sustained in training last week.
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Rob Scott, left, and Paul Hurst
Tom Naylor will therefore join Ian Miller in the heart of the Mariners defence at The New Lawn this evening (7.45pm).
But, following Simon Ford's departure on loan, Town have no other centre-backs in their first-team squad if another injury arises.
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Joint boss Paul Hurst remains relaxed about the situation though, and is happy to take a calculated risk – especially as Pearson may return for Saturday's encounter with Kidderminster Harriers.
"Hopefully, Shaun's injury will heal quick enough that it won't be a massive issue," Hurst told the Telegraph.
"We have to be careful in terms of the loan players we've got. We're on four at the moment – if you bring a fifth and sixth one in then we're above the five that we can involve in a match-day squad.
"I'm not saying that would never happen, but we don't really want to bring anyone in who then find themselves sat in the stand.
"It's a difficult selection anyway with Shaun, Tom and Ian, so to bring another one in would just complicate things further.
"Unless Shaun has a major set-back, we'll just run with it."
Friday's postponed clash at Macclesfield Town has been rearranged for Wednesday, April 3, meaning Town now have 15 matches to fit into the final seven weeks of the campaign.
Regardless, Hurst says he and co-manager Rob Scott have complete faith in the Mariners' squad to cover for any eventuality, in the short-term at least.
"We've got Bradley Wood, Aswad Thomas and Derek Niven who could all do a job," he said.
"Would we want to start with them at centre-back week-in week-out? No.
"But sometimes players are asked to do a job that isn't their first port of call, and we know those three would give everything and do the job to the best of their ability.
"It's something we're very cautious of, but we have got a good group of players, all of which I would class as first-teamers.
"We've got some good players and now is the time for them to really step up and show what they're made of."
On Pearson's possible return from strained knee ligaments ahead of the weekend, Hurst added: "Shaun was running around yesterday and, fingers-crossed, is looking quite good. So I don't think it will keep him out for any length of time.
"Saturday could be a possibility but I wouldn't put any money on it.
"We'll have to speak to Dave (Moore) to check that there hasn't been a reaction to his jogging yesterday morning and the work he's done.
"Straight line work is easy. It's when you're checking and turning that it becomes harder, and you have to do that in games.
"We'll have to monitor it but at the moment the signs are promising."
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