Grimsby Town hunting for new recruits as injury list lengthens after Forest Green game

PAUL Hurst said efforts to strengthen the Grimsby Town squad could be ramped up after the club's injury list grew even longer following Saturday's win over Forest Green Rovers.

The joint-boss watched young frontman Andy Cook limp off with a nasty looking ankle injury, before Bradley Wood also had to be replaced early on against Rovers.

The pair will now join striker Greg Pearson and long-term injury victim Liam Hearn in a busy Blundell Park treatment room and Hurst said that efforts to bring in reinforcements may now be doubled as a result of the club's injury troubles.

Speaking after watching his side grind out a 1-0 win on a tough afternoon at Blundell Park, Hurst said: "We've obviously lost Liam, then Greg the other week and then on Saturday we lost Cooky and Woody which is disappointing.

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"Cooky took a bit of a naughty challenge. The ref rightly played the advantage and then booked the lad, but he rolled his ankle.

"He's struggling quite badly, ankles can be like that and we'll have to have a look at it this week. Woody took a bit of a knee from one of their players and then started to feel it as though he'd caught a nerve. Hopefully that will settle down with a couple of days.

"We're looking to add to the squad. It's looking a lot more important after the latest injuries, but we are genuinely looking.

"People questioned why we wanted five strikers. We're only in September and you can see why."

After losing two players to injuries early on, Hurst said he was pleased with the way that his side stood up to the test posed by Rovers – a team that went into the game sitting top of the league and with the only unbeaten record in the division.

He said: "We went out there and stood toe to toe with them. I'm not going to sit here and say we hammered Forest Green Rovers because it was a very tight affair with lots of firm challenges and a bit of cat and mouse.

"But, I felt we deserved the win over the course of the 90 minutes.

"It was an excellent response to the challenge of welcoming the league leaders. They stood up to it well.

"As good a team as Forest Green have got, if I put myself in Dave Hockaday's shoes and look at our team , I'd be thinking 'he's a good player, he's a good player – these are a good team'. They've had a few more positive results than what we've had, but that said, Saturday was an excellent performance from all the lads that took part."

Hurst was sent to the stands late on in the game after a touchline melee with Rovers' Ed Asafu Adjeye, but he admits that he doesn't really know why referee Seb Stockbridge too the decision to send him from the field.

He added: "I don't know why I was sent to the stands if I'm honest. The ball went out of play, there was a bit of a melee and their player came up to me and I stood my ground and that was it.

"I'm not saying it just because I was sent off, I thought the referee struggled with the game on Saturday.

"The amount of times when a player jumped into a defender and a free-kick was not given was unbelievable."