TOWN Juniors have revenge in mind tonight when they visit Grimsby in the FA Youth Cup first round (7.30).
The Under 18s were beaten 2-1 by their Blundell Park rivals in a pre-season friendly and are keen to make amends.
Wingman Luke Malcher will have a late fitness test for Town while goalkeeper Alex Smithies is likely to be on the bench after a bout of flu.
It means Simon Eastwood playing in goal and a probably slot at right-back for Under 16 player Dave Pickering.
With Danny Racchi and Adam Wilson too old for the competition, three other Under 16s - Dave Heagney, Jack Hunt and Spencer Harris - seem certain to make up the outfield players on the bench with Tom Jackson.
One player certain to the up for the contest is Joe Skarz, the 17-year-old left-back who plays just four days after his Football League debut in the 1-1 Galpharm draw against Scunthorpe.
But Academy manager Gerry Murphy is warning tonight's test will not be easy as Town target a second-round place against either Mansfield Town or Northampton away.
"Our pre-season was built around matches against Centre of Excellence clubs and it just happens that one of them was Grimsby," he said.
"They beat us 2-1 and we thought at the time that Grimsby were a very good team.
"They are strong, and it won't be an easy tie for us."
Town go into the match having beaten Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in the FA Academy Premier League.
Mitchell Bailey was the scorer, and he will feature in central midfield tonight alongside James Berrett.
"The lads were at college yesterday morning and then, in the afternoon, we went through our set pieces, team shape and all the rest of it," added Murphy.
"We are treating it like any normal game because, with a lot of first-year boys involved, that's the way they prefer it.
"But we have told them they need to perform well and, while it's a nice distraction from the league, we are focused on winning the game and going through."
Town - (probable): Eastwood, Pickering, Killock, Codman, Skarz, Roberts, Bailey, Berrett, Hallam, Akins, Broadbent. Subs: Smithies, Jackson, Heagney, Hunt, Harris.
