Matty Stevens thought he had given the Dons a ninth-minute lead but referee Thomas Parsons blew up for a foul on Grimsby goalkeeper Jordan Wright in the build-up.
Danny Rose sealed all three points for Dave Artell’s side in the 30th minute when he headed past Owen Goodman.
Jackson’s side, who had won all five of their home games in the league before the visit of Grimsby, had 16 shots and the majority of possession but were unable to find an equaliser.
“They set up in a way to frustrate us,” Jackson told the club’s YouTube channel.
“You have to give credit to the opposition. They came here with a plan to slow the game down.
“Every time the ball went out for a goal-kick or a throw-in, it was taking 30 or 40 seconds for the ball to come in.
“They set up to be difficult to beat and counter on us. We have to overcome that. We might have to do the dirty, horrible side of it for longer than we did today.
“The second half was all us, but they have something to cling to. We haven’t got the goal that we needed.”
The Dons will be without Omar Bugiel, who has been called up by Lebanon, and Myles Hippolyte, named in the Grenada squad, for Saturday’s trip to Barrow.
“We would like to go to Barrow with those two guys available for us,” said Jackson.
“It’s over to someone else. There will be at least two enforced changes to the team. We will look at Barrow and see how we want to go about that.
“There are going to be opportunities for other people, that’s for sure.”
PICTURE: ALAMY
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