Grimsby Town manager David Artell expressed frustration following the sending off of defender Edon Pruti during their 2-0 home defeat to Northampton Town on Saturday. The 24-year-old defender suffered a double leg break in an incident with Northampton’s Joe Wormleighton in the 61st minute and was subsequently shown a red card before being stretchered off and taken to hospital.

Artell described the referee’s decision to send Pruti off as “mental,” questioning how a player could receive a red card while injured. “As far as we’re aware, it is a double leg break, so we’ll get an update from him as soon as possible,” Artell said. “I don’t understand how someone can break his leg and get sent off in the same breath; to me, that is mental, but I’m not interested in speaking about the ref.” Instead, he focused on his team’s missed chances, noting that Grimsby’s expected goals (xG) nearly doubled those of Northampton. “We haven’t taken our chances... if you don’t take them, you don’t win games,” Artell added.

Northampton secured their first away victory of the season, moving out of the relegation zone with the win. Matty Warhurst opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a right-footed shot from distance that found the bottom corner of the net after two earlier attempts were saved. Northampton then doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Jon Guthrie tapped in a rebound from a Lee Evans corner.

Grimsby mounted pressure late in the game, with Jamie Walker striking the post and Charles Vernam missing a chance over the bar. Northampton goalkeeper Zach Jeacock made key saves from Iwan Morgan, Justin Amulazor, and Kieran Green to preserve the clean sheet.

Northampton manager Chris Hogg acknowledged the red card was a correct call but expressed sympathy regarding Pruti’s injury. “We’re delighted with the result, but there is always a sour taste with the injury to the Grimsby player, even if the red card was a correct call,” Hogg said. He praised his squad’s performance and called for continued clinical finishing moving forward. “I think we’ve seen flashes of the potential this group has got... that’s the performance and result we have been working toward and we need to see more of the same in the coming weeks.”