Grimsby boss Dave Artell believes his side have a mental block away from home after Tuesday’s 2-0 Sky Bet League Two loss at high-flying Mansfield meant they remained winless away from Blundell Park this season.
The Mariners had the better chances in the first half but found themselves 2-0 down at the break and then saw the home side batter them through a one-sided second half without further score.
“I think there is a mental aspect – the record says that,” Artell said.
“There is no point in trying to sugarcoat it. You can’t go half a season without winning away from home. We have to work on their brains as much as anything.
“I thought we were the better team first half even though the scoreline suggests otherwise – we should have been 4-1 up.
“But the second half was a non-event from our point of view. We didn’t turn up.
“We didn’t compete enough and a Mansfield team that is up there on merit deserved to run out easy winners in the end.
“We should have had two stonewall penalties. And we hit the post and the bar and had great chances – all in the first half. As it is, we go
in 2-0 down due to two crazy mistakes. Not once did Mansfield carve us open in that half.”
Grimsby had some big chances in the first half with Christy Pym denying Rekeil Pyke and Arthur Gnahoua with his legs while Kieran Green rattled the crossbar.
Gnahoua had already hit the home post before the Stags took a fortunate lead on 19 minutes as a deflection on Davis Keillor-Dunn’s shot left keeper Harvey Cartwright helpless.
The Mariners twice went close in added time before they allowed George Maris to fire home a low 25-yard shot in the fifth added minute.
The second half was one-way traffic with Cartwright making a string of fine saves, Ollie Clarke hitting the bar and Lucas Akins having an effort ruled out for offside.
It was a third straight win for the promotion-chasing Stags, leaving boss Nigel Clough pleased overall despite a slow start.
He said: “We didn’t start particularly well – they started the brighter and had a couple of chances.
“We looked a bit sluggish in the first 10-15 minutes.
“But once we got into our stride, especially in the second half, I can’t work out how we’ve not scored more than those two goals.
“There was poor finishing, good saves, blocks and a bit of bad luck. We could have gone on and won three or four.
“If we’d have got that third goal at any time, I think we’d have gone on to score four or five. But I would be more concerned if we were not creating the chances. We’ve had 39 shots today.”
Chelsea not focused on Liverpool and Man City, insists Jackson after Leicester win
Chelsea are not getting carried away by talk of a title challenge following their 2-1 win over Leicester City, according to striker Nicolas Jackson.
Jackson netted his seventh Premier League goal of the season and was joined on the scoresheet by Enzo Fernandez on Saturday, as Enzo Maresca got one over on his former club at the King Power Stadium.
The result lifted the Blues to 22 points in third, just one adrift of champions Manchester City in second and six behind leaders Liverpool.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Jackson said: "We know the months of November and December have a lot of games, so we just try to recover for the next one and go again.
"I saw the danger, then the ball came to Enzo, he gave it to me and he finished. I'm just working in every game to try to help the team win."
Asked if Chelsea were now thinking of themselves as title challengers, he added: "No, we don't look at the teams in front of us, we just try to win every game."
Five of Jackson's goals this season have come on the road, the most of any player in the Premier League.
Since the start of May, only Erling Haaland (18) has bettered Jackson's 11 goals in the competition overall.
Leicester got a stoppage-time consolation through Jordan Ayew's penalty, though they earlier felt aggrieved not to be awarded a spot-kick when Stephy Mavididi was seemingly felled by Wesley Fofana in the 85th minute.
Boss Steve Cooper lamented that call, saying: "We've had some terrible luck with this referee. That continued today.
"There's also the game to talk about. Tough first half in terms of Chelsea territory and dominance with the ball. We gave away a poor goal. It should have been 0-0.
"Defensively we were generally okay. We need to be showing courage and belief. If we do that we can create chances and be a threat.
"The big moment is the first penalty not given, it's clear what happened there. The second one was offside [before VAR] and you see how onside he was.
"That was the story of the officials' game. You can speak to them after 30 minutes. I'm not sure if I will or won't."
'It's an honour' - Flick delighted by Messi's Barcelona praise
Hansi Flick says it is an "honour" to hear Lionel Messi praise Barcelona's start to the season.
Flick took over as Barcelona head coach in May, with the club making an impressive start to LaLiga, as they sit top on 33 points after 13 matches.
They have won 11 of their games, losing the other two, while they are sixth in the Champions League table, just three points behind leaders Liverpool.
Messi, who spent 17 years at Barcelona before leaving to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, recently described Flick's team as "spectacular", in particular lauding his use of young players in the team.
The German has not shied away from using academy players during his time at Barcelona so far, with Lamine Yamal the standout of the bunch after he carried last season's form into this campaign.
Yamal is the only player across Europe's big five leagues to complete 25+ dribbles (34), create 25+ chances (26), have 25+ shots (39), score 5+ goals (five) and provide 5+ assists (seven).
When asked how he felt about Messi's comments, Flick was delighted.
"It's an honour to hear the best player in history say that he likes this Barca," he told reporters.
"He follows the team closely, he has his heart set on this club, that means a lot to the youngsters and to the team."
Barcelona return to LaLiga action when they travel to Celta Vigo on Saturday, looking to extend their lead at the top of the league.
Simeone makes LaLiga history with 700th game in charge of Atletico
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has become the first manager to take charge of 700 games with the same LaLiga club.
The Argentine hit the milestone as his Atleti side welcomed Alaves to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Saturday.
Simeone first took charge of Los Rojiblancos in December 2011 and has gone on to become the most successful manager in the club's history, having brought eight honours to the Spanish capital.
The former midfielder guided Atletico to the LaLiga title in 2014 and 2021, while also overseeing two Europa League triumphs in 2012 and 2018 in addition to helping them reach two Champions League finals.
Saturday's game is Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge - the most by any manager at a single club - and he has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
Atleti have won each of their last four matches across all competitions, and another on Saturday would be the 54-year-old's 300th in the Spanish top flight.
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