His team may have finished third in the Vanarama National League this year, but Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley insists his team are still the underdogs in the play-offs.

Their 3-0 win against Altrincham on Saturday meant only champions Cheltenham Town and big-spending Forest Green Rovers topped the Iron in an incredible campaign for Cowley’s men.

They defied the odds to be placed higher than a host of former Football League clubs and sides with far greater clout when it comes to allocating cash to their playing budgets.

And that differential in resources is why Cowley feels his side will still be punching above their weight when they head to Grimsby’s Blundell Park to face the Mariners in the first leg of their play-off semi-final tonight.

He said: “We are massive underdogs and that’s clear to anyone who’s been to Blundell Park, seen the Grimsby support and seen the size of the structure of that club.

“It’s frightening.

“You only have to look at the size of the club and there’s no way we can be nervous of this.

“We should only be full of pride.

“It’s been phenomenal.”

Rather than throwing money the club haven’t got at the problem, Braintree will stick to their time-honoured tradition of using hard work to get the result they want.

They did just that three weeks ago when they went to Grimsby and won 1-0 with a goal from Taylor Miles.

However, Cowley is not underestimating how tough it will be for his part-time players to repeat that in the cauldron of the National League play-offs.

“Both (assistant manager) Nicky (Cowley) and I will be working very hard to get enough detail on Grimsby this week,” added the Iron manager.

“We know how good a team they are.

“It took a monumental effort to go there and get a positive result before and it will take a monumental effort again to win over two games.

“You have to respect players at clubs like Grimsby, Forest Green and Dover as they have the ability to find another level in the big games.

“I’m not sure our players can do that as they have absolutely maxed out so far.

“I’m not sure they can find another level but I know they will be trying very hard.”