Grimsby Town: League Two club should enjoy Luton FA Cup tie, says boss Paul Hurst

Paul Hurst's Grimsby beat League One Burton Albion in the third round

Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst wants his players to enjoy the FA Cup tie at Championship club Luton, but says reaching the fifth round will be tough.

The Mariners, who made the semi-finals twice in the 1930s, are on their best FA Cup run for 23 years.

"We can enjoy it because reaching this stage is difficult for a League Two side fresh out of the National League," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"We're playing a club that was close to getting into to the Premier League."

A fifth-round place would mark their best run since 1996, and with seven non-Premier League teams guaranteed to be in the draw for the last 16, further progress could be possible.

"We'd like that," Hurst added. "Because it means we'd have caused another upset - but it's going to be difficult.

"It's always a dream to get a Premier League team in the draw as we did with Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. We know that the odds are slim but want to show that we can enjoy it by being competitive."

In the last week, Grimsby have had striker Lewis Richardson recalled from his loan spell by parent club Burnley and Brendan Kiernan went back to Walsall after joining during the summer.

"We're down on numbers but the players that are available, they're the ones we want," Hurst said. "They're the ones who want to represent the club and give a good account of themselves.

"It's going to be a frantic end to the window. Then it'll be all hands on deck. I'm not hopeful. We've said many times - January's difficult.

"Money continues to go up in terms of what players are earning and what clubs want back. That's the industry I suppose."