Grimsby Town bosses challenge Lenell John-Lewis to net more goals

PAUL Hurst has challenged in-form Grimsby Town frontman Lenell John-Lewis to add more goals to his game.

The forward took time to find his feet last season after joining from Bury at the end of January.

And after netting his first Mariners goal at Woking, the unfortunate 24-year-old then limped off injured in the same match as his season came to an abrupt end.

John-Lewis has been in fine form during pre-season, however, bagging four goals – including a stunning overhead kick at Winterton and a brace at North Ferriby on Tuesday.

Hurst and co-manager Rob Scott have certainly been impressed by the Londoner's contribution and feel there is much more to come.

"Lenny needs to add goals to his game – that's been a big question mark against him," said Hurst.

"No one can question how strong he is or how he jumps for the ball given his size, though. He can hold the ball up and he is quite athletic as well.

"The one thing that's missing for him in his career so far is goals.

"People forget that he's still a relatively young man because of the presence that he has.

"He attacked the ball really well from the corner for his first goal on Tuesday, and with the second one, he put that away with so much confidence.

"He carried that on from training on Monday where he looked really sharp and scored a lot of goals in the small-sided game we had.

"That can only be good for him and the other forwards."

Hurst believes that John-Lewis and the rest of Town's five-pronged strike-force will have to be at their very best to earn places in the starting XI next season – starting with tonight's friendly at Gainsborough.

"That, more than any, is the area where we are extremely strong," he added.

"So there are going to be some difficult decisions ahead, which is what we want as managers.

"We're not always going to score five goals – like on Tuesday – but we haven't been too concerned yet because we feel we've got goals within the squad, from the strikers and midfielders.

"I don't care who scores if I'm honest, but for them it's great for confidence.

"When Liam (Hearn) scored at Ferriby it looked like his confidence levels rose and when he made it 2-2 in the second half I thought the whole team were lifted.

"There were also goals for Lenny, Ross (Hannah) looked sharp when he got on, and Dayle (Southwell) was good in those wider areas.

"So we're really pleased with them all heading into the season."