Grimsby boss Paul Groves has vowed to protect striker Darren Mansaram after the club offered the promising youngster a two-year contract.

Grimsby expect Mansaram to sign the deal on Monday and, although the forward will be in the squad to face Chesterfield in the Worthington Cup, Groves is taking care with the 18-year-old.

"Darren was close to being on the bench several times last season and he has already been included in the 16 this term," Groves told the official Grimsby site.

"We have been monitoring his progress constantly and he is getting fitter and stronger all the time"

He added: "We still have to bear in mind that he is a young striker and he can't simply be thrown in at the deep end to see if he can sink or swim.

"We'll be nurturing him in the right way and monitoring his progress as carefully in the future as we have in the past. But he is certainly an exciting prospect."

Meanwhile, the Mariners are giving a trial to Middlesbrough striker Arthur Bernhardt.

The 20-year-old Brazilian has spent three seasons at the Riverside Stadium after signing from Hamburg.

However, he has failed to break into the first-team set-up at Middlesbrough.

Bottom-of-the-table Grimsby have scored only once this season and are yet to win a game and player-boss Paul Groves will see whether Bernhardt could solve Town�s problems in front of goal.