PAUL Hurst believes Grimsby Town have enough talent to remain at the business end of the Blue Square Bet Premier promotion race.
But Anthony Elding may not be a part of the squad for much longer.
Speaking after his side moved up to second in the table with a convincing 5-1 win over Woking at Blundell Park on Saturday, the joint boss confirmed that the 30-year-old striker has been told he is free to leave the club.
Elding has been in and out of the Town team since handing in a written transfer request in September amid reports of interest from League One club Preston North End.
He was left out of the match-day squad for the game at the weekend after also being left out of the 16 for the Mariners' previous game against Hyde.
Hurst said: "We've had talks with Anthony and we've circulated his names to clubs.
"He's free to leave if there is a club out there who wants to take him."
Saturday's win moved the Mariners up to second in the table, and, regardless of whether Elding does move on, Hurst is confident that the squad has the strength to keep up their promotion push over a season which he says will have more "twists and turns" in store.
He said: "There's going to be lots of ups and downs from here until the end of the season.
"We had our down against Hyde and then we had a good day on Saturday.
"We're delighted to be up there and in the mix, but there are going to be a lot more twists and turns to come.
"We feel that we've got a squad of players that are good enough, now that we've got up there, to keep us there.
"Given the right run of luck with injuries, we feel we've got a squad that can really compete at that end of the table."
Hurst was speaking after watching his side brush aside ten-man Woking, as they got back to winning ways on a rousing afternoon at Blundell Park.
A brace of free-kicks from Sam Hatton, and strikes from Craig Disley, Andi Thanoj and Andy Cook helped the Mariners to earn the three points.
Hurst said: "It was a pleasing win for us, especially because we scored five goals and got back to winning ways in a convincing fashion.
"Recent results at home haven't been what everyone would like, so it was nice to reward the home fans with a good performance and a few goals," he added.
One negative to come out Saturday's game was the injury to Joe Colbeck, who limped off after only 15 minutes.
And Hurst said: "It's his medial ligament in his knee that's a bit sore.
"If it's anything like I did last year, he could be out for a few weeks, but we'll see how it works out.
"He's a tough kid and if he can come back from it sooner, then he will.
"On the plus side, we can welcome Scott Neilson back next week so, we've got another option back in the wide areas.
"Hopefully it's not too long for Joe though."
