Chesterfield will host a Grimsby Town side who are looking to rubber stamp their spot in the play-offs. Currently sat in seventh position, the Mariners occupy the final spot in the post-season competition with Boreham Wood hot on their heels in pursuit whilst being sat a single point behind them, albeit with three games in hand due to their impressive run in this season’s Emirates FA Cup.
On the other hand, Paul Hurst and his men travel to a Chesterfield team who continue with have an outside chance of automatic promotion, sitting 12 points adrift of high-flying Stockport County in top spot.
Attention turns to the visit of the Humberside outfit to provide a late push for points before the end of the season.
League Table Comparisons
| Team | League Position | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goal Against | Points |
| Chesterfield FC | 3rd | 18 | 13 | 5 | 61 | 35 | 67 |
| Grimsby Town | 7th | 18 | 5 | 12 | 51 | 34 | 59 |
Despite the eight-point gap between the two sides in the standings, both have won 18 games up to this point in the season. The key difference is with the seven games less that Chesterfield have lost this season.
The Mariners started the season in superb form. It would be seven games before the club would suffer its first defeat of the season, coming in a 3-1 away loss to Bromley FC. Before that, the club would announce their promotion intentions with wins over AFC Wrexham and last season’s play-off runners up Torquay United.
Whilst the club picked up its first loss in the visit to Hayes Lane, the wind would continue in their sails by winning eight of their first ten games in the campaign. However, all would turn after the narrow 1-0 loss to Wealdstone.
The loss would kickstart an abysmal run that would see the Mariners suffer nine defeats from 11 outings in all competitions. Early exits from the FA Cup and the Buildbase FA Trophy soon came as lower league Kidderminster Harriers pulled off a surprise result whilst kickstarting their historic run in the competition before Stockport managed to put four past Grimsby in the FA Trophy in December.
The midseason run soon set the pattern for the rest of the campaign. A purple patch to open the season was soon shattered and inconsistency became the running theme for the club, failing to keep up to pace with the league’s heavy hitters. Two wins, two losses and a stalemate from their last five outings paints a picture for the club’s season as midtable Southend grabbed a 1-0 win at the start of March before Solihull Moors secured an away win after a Kyle Hudlin brace inspired a late comeback, piling on the misery for a stumbling Grimsby side.
The Story of the Recent Meetings
| Home Side | Result (Date) | Away Side |
| Grimsby Town | 0-1 (11th December 2021) | Chesterfield FC |
| Chesterfield FC | 0-2 Emirates FA Cup – 2nd Round(2nd December 2018) | Grimsby Town |
| Grimsby Town | 1-0 (7th April 2018) | Chesterfield FC |
| Chesterfield FC | 1-3 (5th April 2017) | Grimsby Town |
In the last four meetings between these two sides, the away side has come away with the victory on three occasions.
The Mariners managed to break that mould in 2018 when a Mitchell Rose goal in the 88th minute was the only difference between the two back when Grimsby and Chesterfield both occupied a place in League Two.
Whilst the recent history fails to support the Spireites ahead of the encounter this week, it is worth noting that Chesterfield secured a 1-0 victory earlier in the season when the two met at Blundell Park. Another late winner was on the cards as Kabongo Tshimanga grabbed the only goal of the gameduring a miserable period in the campaign for Grimsby.
By Sam Plummer
