GRIMSBY Town joint boss Rob Scott has shed some light on the decision to leave on-loan duo Ross Hannah and Scott Neilson out of FA Trophy action.
Crawley Town winger Neilson was an unused sub in Saturday's victory over Havant & Waterlooville, while Bradford City striker Hannah wasn't included in the match-day squad.
Both players will end their three-month loan spells after Friday's Blue Square Bet Premier clash against Wrexham.
And, regardless of any permanent deal or loan extension, neither will be available to play for Grimsby Town over the Christmas period.
However, Scott insists there was nothing sinister about the pair's omissions.
He said: "We left a few out because Friday is coming up and, if anybody was there from Wrexham, we didn't want to highlight too much.
"Also, we have to look at the bigger picture – Ross is not here over the Christmas period.
"So we have to make a decision whether it's going to be Dayle Southwell, Greg Pearson or Michael Rankine who comes in.
"We have to decide on that so we gave certain members of the squad that haven't had a run-out some game-time.
"We felt Saturday was a good opportunity to do that. It could have come back to bite us but they're the decisions you make when you've got a squad.
"That was the situation with Ross and the same with Scott. We wanted to give Joe Colbeck minutes on the pitch for him."
The joint boss confirmed that the | Mariners are continuing their pursuit of the two Town favourites on longer deals.
"We'll speak to Scott today and have a chat with him. Hopefully we can conclude something one way or the other," he added. "Obviously we think they should sign for Grimsby, of course we do.
"Ross does want to sign for Grimsby, but his club want a fee for him and that will dictate what happens. He is desperate to come and carry on what he's been doing – he's enjoying it here.
"Scott wants to play, he's enjoying it, but location-wise it's a long way for him.
"There are other clubs interested in the best players in this league. Scott is certainly one of those and Ross is one of the best goal-scorers in this league.
"People want the best players. We'll do our utmost to keep them, but we have to bear in mind what we've already got in at the club without going to extremes and shattering the goodwill between the players we've got."
