Paul Hurst: Grimsby Town manager wants to build on FA Cup heroics

Grimsby Town players went over to salute their travelling fans at the end of their FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Brighton

Boss Paul Hurst has urged his Grimsby heroes to build on their FA Cup run and finish the season strongly.

The Mariners' run to the quarter-finals for the first time since 1939 ended in a 5-0 loss at Premier League Brighton.

Hurst said the players and staff should savour the moments after players celebrated with the 5,000 fans who made the trip from Lincolnshire.

With 12 matches left to play Grimsby are out of the League Two play-off reckoning and face a tough schedule.

They travel to play-off contenders Mansfield on Wednesday, followed by a home game with Walsall and then another long journey south to face Crawley three days later.

Hurst wants his squad to use the positivity generated by a cup run that saw them become the first team in FA Cup history to knock out five teams from a higher division from the first round by seeing off Plymouth, Cambridge, Burton, Luton and Southampton.

"I said to the players I was very proud of them, and I want them to remember that, but we have about six weeks and I want us to try to finish the season strongly, and the next three games in particular," the Grimsby manager told BBC Radio Humberside.

"We have a little bit of a break in that (the Mansfield game is) pushed back to Wednesday, then it's into Saturday (at home to Walsall) quicker and on to Crawley.

"They will be real tests - you're always still learning but we have a lot of games still to play and I certainly still want to finish the season as strongly as possible and see how high up we can finish."

Despite the heavy defeat by a strong Seagulls team, the players shared some emotional moments with the travelling supporters, waving their inflatable haddocks, after the final whistle.

Hurst reflected on the run, saying: "It's been fantastic for everyone involved with the club. For me, almost the best bit was the end, which was strange because we've just had a defeat, having come up against a fantastic team.

"The fans, at the end, make it really special, and that's what you always talk about. The support they gave the team right throughout was special, even when it became obvious we weren't going to win the game. It was a very nice moment.

"I don't know what they would have done had we somehow won. I hope they have enjoyed the game and the day. It would have been nice had we got a goal, because we had a couple of chances at that end. It would have been nice to give them that moment.

"Even just arriving on the coach and seeing all the Grimsby fans, and the welcome we got getting off the coach, it's moments like that mark it as very different to league games. I'm sure the lads and staff will remember that."