Jolley calls for improvements after Grimsby lose at home to Oldham

Posted Sunday, September 16, 2018 by PA

Grimsby boss Michael Jolley called for a mentally stronger performance from his side after their crushing 3-0 defeat at home to Oldham Athletic.

Sam Surridge did the damage with a quickfire brace at Blundell Park, before substitute Jose Baxter added a late third for the Latics.

It means Grimsby have now lost four straight games, while Oldham continue to adjust well to life in League Two following relegation.

Jolley said: “We are finding ways to lose games. We are professional people, and we know it wasn’t good enough. We have got to score the chances we create.

“After an hour we were in the game. We conceded goals in a short space of time, and we need to be mentally tougher as a group.

“We need to be more resilient when we suffer setbacks.

“We need to make sure we do the basics well, keep clean sheets and keep ourselves in games. When you go four games without a goal, your confidence is going to struggle.

“We need to go back to basics and make sure there is a good shape to our team. If we can be more incisive, that is something we can look to improve on.

“In between the two penalty boxes we have matched our last two opponents, but we have let ourselves down in both boxes.”

Surridge found time and space in the box – just after the hour – and made the most on both occasions with tidy finishes for his third and fourth goals of the season.

And then in the 90th minute, Baxter rubbed salt into the wounds as he headed past James McKeown.

Oldham manager Frankie Bunn added: “For us to keep a clean sheet and score that amount of goals, I am delighted like you can’t believe.

“At the start it was a bit frantic and we had to wait for the game to settle. We asked for a bit more quality at half-time, and that came through in the second half.

“We stuck in there in the first half when it was a bit of a bombardment, with long balls and seconds, which at times we were second to.

“We regrouped at half-time and our performance in the second half was great.

“You have to dig in away from home at times. We knew there would be a reaction from Grimsby after the defeat they took at Bury.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but we dug in, kept a clean sheet and were glad to have scored a few goals.”