After two grueling away trips in the last week County return to home comforts this Saturday, as high-flying Sutton United visit Edgeley Park in a big encounter at the top of the National League table.
Those back-to-back wins in the Capital against Bromley and Barnet have seen County rise from 13th to 5th in the National League table, and still with at least three games in hand on all the sides above us – including leaders Torquay, who we remain 12 points behind.
A win on Saturday would see County end the day as high as third in the fledgling league table, although defeat could see us drop back out of the play-off places, such is the tightness at the top right now.
For Sutton, they suffered a setback on Tuesday night as they went down 1-0 at home to Chesterfield, a result that saw them lose ground on Torquay at the top, but still they remain in second at the time of writing, five points from the summit and seven ahead of County – having played four games more than the Hatters.
Our Opponents:
After successive top ten finishes in 2018 and 2019, the U’s went in to last season with hopes of another play-off push to match their 3rd place finish in 2017/18 – but ultimately flattered to deceive.
Just three wins in their first 19 league games meant their season never really got going, and despite a strong run over the festive period, a final position of 14th represented their lowest finish since winning promotion to the National League in 2016.
After keeping faith in manager Martin Gray over the Summer, Sutton have retained the core group of last season’s squad, including star midfielder Harry Beautyman, who netted 15 goals for the U’s last season.
That loyalty is currently being rewarded, as the London side have made an impressive start to the new campaign. Five wins from their first six games set the tone, with only Notts County getting the better of them in that run.
Despite a slight dip in November, which culminated in a disappointing 4-0 defeat at Wrexham, Gray’s men have bounced back impressively with victories over Halifax, Woking and, most significantly, a 4-1 thumping of Solihull Moors last Saturday, as they look to keep in touch at the top of the table.
That defeat at home to Chesterfield was a major set-back for them though, and they will be coming into the game at Edgeley Park looking to put that right and continue an impressive run away from home that has seen them win four of six in the League – that loss at Wrexham their only defeat on the road to date.
After two goalless draws between the sides last season, Saturday’s encounter at Edgeley Park has all the makings to be much more entertaining – Sutton are currently the second-top scorers in the league with 23 goals, behind only Torquay, whilst County have scored 17 in our nine league games to date.
Match Stats:
- Those two 0-0 draws last season were the only competitive meetings between ourselves and Sutton, meaning we are still searching for our first ever goal against the U’s.
- After scoring twice in his first seven appearances for the Club, Alex Reid now has five goals in his last five games.
- Although County currently reside in 5th place, on points per game they currently have the second-best record in the division, ahead of Sutton and behind only Torquay.
