Grimsby Town and Hull City will both continue their preparations for the upcoming campaign on Saturday, when they meet in a pre-season friendly at Blundell Park.
The fourth-tier hosts took on Cleethorpes Town in their last friendly, while the Championship visitors will play their first domestic friendly after most recently travelling to Turkey to take on Galatasaray and Hatayspor.
Match preview
Grimsby Town headed into this pre-season campaign hoping to build towards a sustained League Two promotion push in the 2023-24 term, after finishing 11th in England's fourth tier last time around, while also progressing to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Paul Hurst's side entered in the first round and dished out a 5-1 thrashing to eventual League One winners Plymouth Argyle, and they would then get past Cambridge United and Burton Albion before meeting Luton Town and triumphing 3-0 in a replay following a 2-2 draw at Kenilworth Road, booking a fifth-round tie away at top-flight Southampton thanks to goals from Harry Clifton, Danilo Orsi and Danny Amos.
The Mariners would triumph against the odds in that game too, winning 2-1 thanks to a Gavan Holohan brace, but a quarter-final tie with Brighton & Hove Albion would prove to be a step too far as they were on the wrong end of a 5-0 beating as Evan Ferguson hit a brace alongside goals from Deniz Undav, Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma, seeing Grimsby bow out after a commendable run.
After their League Two campaign culminated in a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon, wrapping up the 11th-placed finish 61 points on the board, 14 shy of the playoff places, Hurst's side returned to action at the beginning of July and began their pre-season programme with a short trip to Grimsby Borough, and they would come away with a 5-1 victory as Danny Rose, Niall Maher and Clifton got on the scoresheet in the first half before Rekeil Pyke added a second-half double.
Now on the back of another triumph over non-league opposition, as Michee Efete and Donovan Wilson found the net in a 2-1 victory away at neighbours Cleethorpes Town, Grimsby Town will look to ramp up their preparations against Championship opposition on Saturday before meeting Port Vale and Lincoln City next week.
They welcome a Hull City side who will play their first pre-season friendly on English soil after a recent trip to Turkey to kick off their own preparations.
Following the appointment of Liam Rosenior as manager in November, the Tigers enjoyed a relatively encouraging second half to the 2022-23 season, eventually finishing 15th with 58 points from their 46 games after fighting for a top-half place.
After finishing the campaign with back-to-back draws, the Yorkshire outfit returned to action ahead of the new term at the beginning of July and travelled to Turkey for a pair of friendlies, firstly meeting Galatasaray in an eventful contest and eventually coming out with a 4-3 victory, despite going into the interval 3-1 down as Emin Bayram, Berkan Kutlu and Kaan Ayhan netted goals for the Super Lig champions before Benjamin Tetteh pulled one back on the stroke of half time.
Rosenior's men would turn the game on its head late in the second half at the Kocaeli Stadium following a raft of substitutions, as Cyrus Christie, Regan Slater and Oscar Estupinan hit goals in quick succession, before they then met Hatayspor and played out a 1-1 draw with Will Jarvis opening the scoring for the Tigers and Unal Durmushan levelling the contest seven minutes from time.
Now returning to England with two friendlies under their belt, ahead of meetings with Barnsley, Bradford City, Scunthorpe United and Nantes and the beginning of the Championship season away at Norwich City in early August, Hull City will be keen to build some momentum with a dominant display at Blundell Park.
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Team News
Grimsby Town have rotated their squad heavily in the opening two pre-season friendlies, but we may see a more settled XI on Saturday, with Paul Hurst likely starting several of his summer signings.
Attackers Danny Rose, Rekeil Pyke and Donovan Wilson have all arrived and will be vying for the manager's favour, having all already found the net in pre-season, while Charles Vernam and Abo Eisa have joined to bolster the Mariners in the wide areas and should both feature from the outset.
New goalkeeper Jake Eastwood will start between the sticks, while Harvey Rodgers and Toby Mullarkey will compete for places in defence after their recent arrivals.
Liam Rosenior may opt to rotate his Hull City squad between halves on Saturday, with new arrival Liam Delap again set to feature up front following his loan arrival from Manchester City.
He could join Oscar Estupinan in attack, with the likes of Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Benjamin Tetteh and Ryan Longman also vying for places in the front line, while at the other end of the pitch, goalkeepers Matt Ingram and Thimothee Lo-Tutala should again play a half each.
Xavier Simons, who saw his loan move from Chelsea made permanent this summer, will also hope to impress in midfield, as will Regan Slater, while Rosenior will likely find time for youngsters like Jake Leake and Harry Vaughan.
Grimsby Town possible starting lineup:
Eastwood; Efete, Rodgers, Mullarkey, Amos; Eisa, Holohan, Conteh, Vernam; Rose, Pyke
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Lo-Tutala; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Leake; Sayyadmanesh, Slater, Simons, Tetteh; Estupinan, Delap
We say: Grimsby Town 1-3 Hull City
Still early in pre-season, Saturday's encounter could certainly be an open one, and we anticipate Hull's superior quality shining through at Blundell Park.
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