STOCKPORT County's players have a lot of making up to do, according to Rob Clare.

The County defender, who captained England Under-20s in the summer, admitted he was embarrassed by last week's FA Cup defeat at Stevenage Borough.

And he believes a good way to start wiping out that memory is with victory in the league at Grimsby tomorrow.

"We've definitely got a lot to prove," said Clare.

"We owe it to ourselves, the fans and the gaffer to put on a good performance at Grimsby after what happened at Stevenage.

"We need to start picking up points to get ourselves out of the bottom four, and we can start doing that by winning at Grimsby."

Hard graft

The preparation will definitely be right for the trip to Blundell Park.

Boss Sammy McIlroy has taken advantage of the lack of a midweek game to impose his standards on his new charges.

"We've not had a day off during the week, which we normally do," added Clare.

"But that's the way it should be. We need to get our heads down and work our way out of the situation we are in.

"I'm sure we're in for a couple of hard weeks."

Grimsby, who are four places above County in the Second Division table, have been on a decent run of late, winning three out of their last five games.

And last Saturday's 1-0 FA Cup victory over Queens Park Rangers will have been a major boost for Paul Groves' side.

County welcome back loan signings Danny Jackman and Matt Heath, who missed the defeat at Stevenage to prevent them being cup-tied for their Premiership sides, Aston Villa and Leicester City respectively.

Missing out

But central midfielder John Hardiker is a big doubt, according to McIlroy.

"John has had an ear infection and although he trained on Thursday he looked weak. We'll have to monitor the situation," said McIlroy. "We can't afford to put out anything less than our strongest side as Grimsby is going to be a very tough game.

"We must play for the whole game because what is annoying me at the moment is that we only seem to play for 45 minutes."

LAST SEASON: Different divisions

KEY OPPONENT: Iffy Onoura - experienced striker who has signed on loan from Sheffield United for the rest of the season

PREDICTION: Grimsby Town 1 Stockport County 0

BETFRED:

Grimsby 8/13 Draw 12/5 Stockport 4/1

Correct Score
Stockport To Win
1-0 17/2
2-0 28/1
2-1 18/1
3-0 80/1
3-1 50/1
3-2 40/1

1st/Last Goalscorer In Match
S Barlow 15/2
A Welsh 15/2
J Daly 15/2
A Wilbraham 17/2
R Lambert 13/1
O Morrison 16/1
K Ellison 16/1
F MacLachlan 20/1
A Lescott 25/1
J Goodwin 33/1

Scorecast:

A Wilbraham & Stockport 2-0 150/1

Others odds available on request. Prices subject to fluctuation. Ring BETFRED on 0800 73 11 210 Tweet