Grimsby boss fires new dig at Man Utd as he claims beating Brentford will be ‘so much more difficult’

GRIMSBY boss David Artell believes that beating Brentford will be a BIGGER giant-killing than knocking out Manchester United.

His League Two Mariners are lining up the Premier League Bees for another Carabao Cup sting operation after seeing off United in a second-round penalty shootout. 

But Artell insists they will be a HARDER side to beat on Tuesday in front of another Blundell Park sell-out.

He said: “Everyone agrees  that Manchester United are still finding their way under a new manager, who needs to be given more time.

“You can see the fruits of the green shoots of progress from their side — but Brentford are not that team. Brentford are a well- established team.

“They’ve appointed from within to continue the work the previous manager did — and everyone would suggest that Keith Andrews is doing a brilliant job and he’s taking them on.

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“You don’t beat West Ham so comprehensively, you don’t beat the reigning champions, if you haven’t got those principles of play already ingrained. I’m not sure that was the case with United.

“I don’t want loads of letters from United fans from Kenya or Norway — or Stretford — but they’re still in that process of finding their way again. 

“Brentford are fully in, fully understanding. That makes it so much more difficult.”

Grimsby captain Kieran Green swapped shirts with Bruno Fernandes after the Carabao Cup upset to give to his son. 

But he says the whirlwind of League Two football means he still has not got his head round their achievement two months on.

Green, 28, said: “It has not really sunk in. It’s something that probably won’t until the end of the season, when you’ve got a bit of time.

“I can imagine that people will think that because we beat United, we’ll have just as much of a chance against Brentford.

“But we’re still playing against the Premier League team that have beaten  champions Liverpool at the weekend — and we are still massive  underdogs.

“A lot of things have got to go right for us to get anything out of this game. 

“We’ve got to go into it expecting  one of the hardest games we’re ever going to play — and that’s exactly how we will.”

The victory over United back in late August, which they followed with a third-round 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, attracted global attention for the east coast fishing town. 

And Artell, who was at West Ham last Monday to watch Brentford the night before scouting Saturday’s FA Cup opponents Ebbsfleet at Enfield, has told his men to go out and put the place on the map again.

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He said: “Manchester United has gone. That’s already wrapped someone’s haddock and chips up. We’ve got to create some more headlines. It’s infinitely more difficult second time round.

“But in a two-horse race, you can win by a nose or a width of a crossbar and that’s enough.”