JOHNSTONE'S PAINT TROPHY FINAL PREVIEW: HEAD-TO-HEAD
Grimsby Town and Milton Keynes Dons contest the 25th Football League Trophy final, at the new Wembley Stadium for the first time.
Under its current guise as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy the match is the second final of the season after Spurs won the League Cup against Chelsea last month.
For many clubs cup games are so often seen as a distraction but for the MK Dons, the tournament has provided them with the opportunity of winning their first piece of silverware and has also kept their form ticking over which sees them top of League Two.
Grimsby are also in with a shout at promotion, just five points off the Play-offs at the time of writing, they also have experience of winning the trophy back in 1998, when they beat Bournemouth.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two sides have already met twice in the league this season and it's the MK Dons who have the advantage, completing the double last month with a 1-0 win at Blundell Park, after a 2-0 home win back in November.
ROUTE TO THE FINAL
GRIMSBY TOWN
Toner
Rankin
Till
*Grimsby won 4-2 on penalties
Mills
Heffernan
*Grimsby won 5-4 on penalties
Raynes
Cameron
Swailes
*MK Dons won 5-4 on penalties
Johnson
*MK Dons won 5-4 on penalties
RECENT FORM
It has taken four penalty shoot-outs for these two sides to make it to Wembley but it is Grimsby who have the advantage when it comes to goals scored, netting ten along the way and conceding just five, while MK Dons have scored seven and conceded just three but they did play a game less.
In total the two sides have met just 21 times in history where ironically Grimsby have won seven and lost seven of the meetings while another seven have ended in a draw!
Last year's final between Bristol Rovers and Doncaster was a real cracker, with fans getting to see five goals in 120 minutes of football. Doncaster must have though their name was on the trophy after going 2-0 up inside the first five minutes through Jonathan Forte and Paul Heffernan but two goals after the break send the game into extra-time. Richard Walker scoring the first just five minutes after the break before Sammy Igoe equalised just after the hour.
In the end it took a strike on 110 minutes from Graeme Lee to secure the win for Rovers and give them the trophy for the first time.
The main danger man for the Mariners is youngster Danny North who tops the scoring charts with ten including four in January, which earned him the Powerade Player of the Month award.
An impressive statistic for Grimsby is that 18 different players have been on the scoresheet this season.
As far as the MK Dons go they have three players in double figures when it comes to goals, with Mark Wright the leading scorer on 14 including six in his last in his last five games.
The other players in double figures are midfielders Lloyd Dyer with ten and Keith Andrews with eleven but more impressive is his number of cautions - 14, having been booked in seven of his last eight games.
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