Grimsby Town go into the second leg of their Conference Premier playoff semi-final with Eastleigh knowing that they only have to avoid defeat to move a step closer to promotion to the Football League.

Eastleigh are big underdogs to overturn a 2-1 deficit, but after averaging almost two goals a game throughout the season, they can't be written off on Sunday afternoon.

Grimsby Town

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Grimsby have suffered playoff heartbreak over the past two seasons, but they are in a great position to finally reach the final at the third time of asking.

The first leg of the semi-final on Thursday night was a competitive affair, but two goals from midfielder Nathan Arnold ultimately proved to be the difference.

The double from the on-loan Mansfield Town player was his first goals in 10 games, but they proved timely as Lenell John-Lewis continued his poor run in the attacking third.

However, manager Paul Hurst will be encouraged with how goals are being shared around the team, with nine different players contributing to their last 12 goals.

The Mariners have only lost twice in their previous 15 games, but both of those setbacks came at home and there will be no complacency having rarely won comfortably at Blundell Park in the past two months.

Recent form: DWLDWW

Eastleigh

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Eastleigh ended the regular season as the second top goalscorers in the league but that touch deserted them on Thursday night.

It was only the second time that they had failed to score in 18 games and that has left them with plenty of work to do on the East Coast on Sunday afternoon.

Reaching the playoff semi-finals was probably beyond their expectations at the start of the campaign after only reaching this level of the football pyramid last year.

However, with the Spitfires being beneficiaries after the inconsistent performances of some of the division's biggest clubs, they will be aware that the pressure is on to take advantage of being a couple of games away from the Football League.

They have spent the majority of the season out of the top five, but even though they suffered a narrow loss earlier this week, they should still have the confidence of previously recording five wins in a row.

The experience of James Constable could be key, but the forward needs to improve a recent record of two goals in seven games to help his team at the weekend.

Recent form: WWWWWL

Team News

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Hurst has a number of options at his disposal, with Ross Hannah and Jon-Paul Pittman both pushing for starting roles.

However, barring any late fitness issues, the Mariners chief may decide to select the same team that began the first leg.

Eastleigh boss Richard Hill could opt to include Yemi Odubade after he came off the bench to score on Thursday night.

The on-loan Woking forward is likely to come in for Jack Midson, but Hill may opt to keep faith with the rest of his starting lineup.

Grimsby Town possible starting lineup:
McKeown, Nsiala, Gowling, Pearson, Magnay, Mackreth, Disley, Brown, Arnold, John-Lewis, Palmer

Eastleigh possible starting lineup:
Flitney, Evans, Turley, Stanley, Partington, Strevens, Spence, Reason, McAllister, Constable, Odubade

Head To Head

With Eastleigh competing no higher than the Conference South until last summer, the history between the two clubs only began when they met in January this year at the Silverlake Stadium.

A goal from Ollie Palmer was the difference on that day, while John-Lewis netted the decisive goal for the Mariners in the reverse fixture in the middle of March.

We say: Grimsby Town 2-1 Eastleigh

After falling behind on aggregate, Eastleigh must find the right balance in order to remain in the tie, but that could cause indecision in their ranks and we believe that Grimsby will do enough to comfortably see out the rest of the tie.

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