PAUL Hurst believes no-one in yesterday's FA Trophy Third Round draw would have wanted to be paired against the Mariners.
As it turned out, Town were handed a trip to Blue Square South outfit Welling United on Saturday, January 12.
With league rivals Wrexham and Luton Town still in the hat, the joint boss admitted that the draw could have been worse.
But, with Town enjoying a good run of form, he doesn't believe any team would have fancied being pitted against a Mariners outfit challenging for success in the Trophy and the Blue Square Bet Premier title race.
Speaking to the Grimsby Telegraph, Hurst said: "Welling will be a long trip for us but saying that, I think there were worse draws in there for us.
"We'd have preferred it be at home, but really you've got to look at it and say it's a winnable game – there is no getting away from that, so in that respect we have to say that it's a good draw."
He added: "Obviously in drawing Welling we avoided teams like Luton and Wrexham, but realistically, I don't think there are many sides that would want to draw us at the minute.
"We're in good form and we'll have had some really important league games before the Trophy tie, so it will set us up well for it."
Welling have been enjoying a fine run of form themselves of late.
After winning their last six league games, they sit third in the Blue Square Bet South table.
The Wings count former Mariner Kiernan Hughes-Mason among their squad – a player that Hurst knows will have a point to prove to his former bosses.
"Welling are in good form at the minute and so they will fancy their chances against us and causing another upset," he said.
"We certainly won't be taking Welling lightly because we've seen how difficult these games can be from when we played Buxton in the first round.
"We know that in Kiernan Hughes-Mason they've got a player who will be trying his upmost to put in the sort of performance to
suggest that we were wrong to release him.
"It will be interesting to see him again. We know what Kiernan can produce on his day."
Hurst added: "You've got to say that it was a good draw for us and it's certainly a game that we will be looking to win."
