Grimsby Town: Paul Hurst glad of late call on sub Mani Dieseruvwe

Mani Dieseruvwe scored in the 119th minute after coming on as a 87th-minute substitute

Grimsby manager Paul Hurst says it was only a late call that prompted him to name match-winner Mani Dieseruvwe as a substitute for their play-off eliminator win at Notts County.

Dieseruvwe came off the bench to score in the 119th minute as Grimsby beat Notts County 2-1, having forced extra time through Gavan Holohan's late goal.

The Mariners' reward is a trip to Wrexham in Saturday's semi-final.

"Yesterday, I probably would not have had Mani on the bench," said Hurst.

He told BBC Radio Humberside: "Something was nagging at me that we've gone with two strikers up front for some time and that perhaps when we've needed a goal, we've only had one striker on the bench.

"So that nag and chatting with the staff, Mani got the nod to get us where we are now."

Dieseruvwe's winner came after Holohan had equalised for Grimsby in the sixth minute of second half injury time, to cancel out Ruben Rodrigues' penalty.

Now Hurst has four days to prepare for the game in North Wales against the side who finished runners-up to champions Stockport County, with a place in the final at the London Stadium on 5 June at stake.

"It's a huge task, there is no going away from that," added Hurst.

"They [Wrexham] have got a prolific strikeforce, they'll be keen to get over the disappointment of Sunday [losing the FA Trophy final to Bromley] and the big goal for them is to get promotion. We'll go there as big underdogs, bigger underdogs than tonight, but we'll give it our all."