No Tiredness Excuses Says Lennie Of Forest Game!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 16/09/2001

WITH Grimsby Town hoping for their biggest gate of the season for tomorrow's clash with Nottingham Forest, Lennie Lawrence has decided to rest some of the players but will not accept tiredness as an excuse in the game.

With 3,000 tickets already sold with Forest fans taking 1,800 tickets that will fill the away end the club are advising people to book early.

But Lawrence told the Grimsby Telegraph today that his troops couldn't use that as an excuse after Forest, including Jack Lester, were also forced to endure extra-time in their shoot-out win over Stockport 24 hours later.

"They were tired at the end on Tuesday, but Forest had extra-time a day later. "It's no good looking out after 60-70 minutes saying that they can't pick their legs up. We can't use that physical tiredness thing as an excuse because they've had the same thing."

Lawrence will make three changes to Tuesday's team. Rowan is out after suffering concussion and is replaced by Bradley Allen. Menno Willems will replace Wayne Burnett with David Beharall taking his place in the back line.

On the changes Lawrence said "There will be a change in each department, forward, middle and back. "Marlon was outstanding but to ask him to play Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday would be just plain daft. He'll be on the bench and if I could do that with three or four of them I would."

"The difference is that Forest have got the sort of squad where they could make seven or eight changes if they wanted."

Although Grimsby are listed as favourites Lennie said: "They've got a £3-million centre forward in David Johnson and it's ludicrous to say that. That's the danger. If people start making us favourites and the players think 'we'll win this', we'll get beat. If you do that you lose sight of the whole thing."

"We'll have to be at our best because they play something like total football with a lot of interchanging."

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