GRIMSBY Town manager Paul Hurst admits it will be 'almost mission impossible' for him to predict Colchester United's line-up ahead of tonight's game at Blundell Park.

Matty Etherington takes charge of the U's for the first time, following his appointment as interim head coach following the departure of Ben Garner, last weekend.

Etherington will be aiming to halt a run of four successive league defeats for Colchester and will have midfield duo Arthur Read and Jay Mingi back from suspension for the game against the Mariners.

READ MORE: Matty Etherington appointed U's interim head coach

But Hurst, speaking prior to Etherington's temporary appointment being announced yesterday, said forecasting how the U's will line up will be a difficult task.

Hurst told the Grimsby Town website: "I think they're a little unpredictable anyway, as in they've changed shape a few times, different players have come in, they've had people suspended, I think they've got a couple of players back from suspension.

"It depends on who takes over, what they've seen, have they got a totally different idea about what the team should have been doing, do they stick to something similar-ish?

Gazette:

"They've got a lot of younger players that have come through the academy, they spend a lot of money there and they've kind of had the reward of that, in some ways but maybe not quite in terms of getting to the top of this league, more recently at least.

"It'll be interesting but it does make it hard to set up; we've watched the game from the weekend, we've watched previous games, we know some of the individual qualities that some of their players have and the threats that they'll carry.

"But in terms of actually me getting even close to predicting what the line-up will be, I think that's almost mission impossible."

READ MORE: Cameron McGeehan admits U's players must step up at Grimsby

Grimsby head into tonight's game in 20th position in the table, having picked up just one point from a possible nine in their last three matches in League Two.

Hurst added: "I've been relatively happy with performance levels, across the board

"Not all is wrong; of course, not everything is right but a lot of the time, we're talking about moments in games, whether that's us making a bad decision or giving the opposition some plaudits, which we never like to do, or maybe it's decision that's out of our control.

"Within those things, we've got to find a solution and get a win and that's what we'll be aiming for - we know the importance of the game."