ROVERS may well be on the look-out for more strikers, but Danny Graham continued his impressive goalscoring run as Tony Mowbray’s men notched a fourth win of pre-season.

The travelling fans got a first look at new signing Dominic Samuel, who played the final half -hour, but it was Graham who was to decide the game with his fourth goal in five pre-season outings.

More importantly for Graham, he notched another 76 minutes as Mowbray’s mind begins to turn to his starting line-up on the opening day at Southend United.

Elliott Bennett clocked up his third full game of pre-season, while David Raya, Paul Caddis and Charlie Mulgrew all came through 90 minutes, in a game which saw Mowbray use different systems in each half.

Rovers may have been without the services of Darragh Lenihan, Craig Conway and Corry Evans through injury, but were still able to name a strong starting line-up.

However, the visitors were frustrated in their efforts during an opening 45 minutes in which they saw plenty of the ball, without Grimsby goalkeeper James McKeown being unduly concerned.

Indeed, it was David Raya who the busier of the keepers, making two smart saves in a matter of minutes just after the half hour mark from the lively Sikira Dembele.

While assured in possession, Rovers’ productivity around the penalty area meant it wasn’t until seven minutes before the break until McKeown was forced to deny a Peter Whittingham volley with his feet.

Before that, Liam Feeney and Ben Gladwin failed to find the target with efforts from just outside the area, while Graham could only nod a right wing cross wide of the post.

There was a switch to three at the back, following the arrivals of Ryan Nyambe and Bradley Dack, but still the game struggled to break in to action.

New boy Samuel was sent on with half an hour to go, with Rovers getting their first look at a potential strike pairing of Samuel and Graham.

And it was Rovers’ experienced frontman who would break the deadlock just four minutes later with his fourth goal of pre-season. He didn’t know much about it, but his touch was enough to deflect the ball goalwards after a promising Dack run ended his shot being blocked in to Graham’s path.

Grimsby were playing with plenty of spirit though, and almost got a fortuitous goal of their own, only for Caddis to clear off the line after Elliott Ward had inadvertently headed a corner goalwards.

Zak Mills fired over from the edge of the box as Grimsby continued to press, while Samuel was eager for a debut goal, trying his luck twice from all of 30 yards without success.

Rovers rarely looked like adding to their lead, with Dack seeing a tame effort saved as the game somewhat petered out.

But they did have to see off late Grimsby pressure, mostly from set plays, with Raya forced to tip one overhit cross behind, while Luke Summerfield headed one cross wide of the target.

Rovers: Raya, Caddis, Ward (Platt, 89), Mulgrew, Williams (Doyle, 71), Feeney (Nyambe, 46), Whittingham (Smallwood, 65), Tomlinson (Dack, 46), Bennett, Gladwin (Samuel, 60), Graham (Rankin-Costello, 76)

Subs: Steele, Fisher, Travis, Hardcastle