Chris Agutter highlighted how improved away performances have helped build confidence within the squad ahead of Sutton’s trip to Carlisle United in the Enterprise National League (Saturday, 11th April; 3pm KO).
The U’s head to Brunton Park for the first time since the 2022/23 season – their longest trip of the campaign – and will be aiming to extend their recent unbeaten streak away from home to seven games, whilst looking to bounce back from defeat last time out against Southend United.
“Looking forward to it” Agutter said. “We’ve been on a really good run away from home, I think if we pick up a positive result it would mean we’d go seven unbeaten, so looking to continue that strong away form.”
“We haven’t just had middle of the road away days, in that run we’ve played Hartlepool, Scunthorpe, Gateshead, so we’re used to travelling and, fortunately, we’re used to picking up points when we travel too. We’re looking to build on that.”
“It gives us confidence. When we first came in, the away form was a mixed bag at best, but our home form got us off the bottom of the table. Now it’s our away form that’s more productive, and our home form has dipped. It’s a reflection of the inconsistency of the group.”
“It’s all part of the learning and development process. We want to continue that really strong away form and keep building on it.”
With only a few games remaining, Agutter stressed the importance of focusing on each match individually rather than the wider table, with Sutton potentially safe mathematically, even with defeat in Cumbria, should Brackley Town and Morecambe both lose themselves on Saturday. However, the Head Coach added that the team’s aim is to secure their position through their own performances rather than relying on results elsewhere.
“It’s one game at a time, control what we can control. We’ve got ourselves into a strong position when you consider where we were.”
“We’ve turned the situation around with a sensible points haul, whilst changing the squad, whilst changing the playing style, whilst selling players to Football Club clubs.”
“It’s been a real transitional period I think for the club. The biggest positive in terms of that change or that transition has been the fact that we’ve climbed from the foot of the table to eight points clear with three games to go.”
“So we want to do it off the back of our own strong performances and off the back of our own positive results as opposed to relying on other people to drop points.”
“We’ve got ourselves into a great position where it’s in our hands, and we fully intend to keep it that way by building on our positive away form and continuing to work incredibly hard to try and shift our home form.”
Looking ahead to Carlisle, he spoke about the opportunity to face an experienced manager in Mark Hughes, who has previously managed as high as the Premier League with the likes of Manchester City, Stoke City and Southampton, and added that he remains confident in his team’s approach despite acknowledging the strength of the opposition.
“They’re there [in the play-offs] for a reason. They’re a massive football club with a rich history, a big fanbase and high expectations. On paper, they’ve probably got the best squad in the league. But football isn’t played on paper.”
“For us, it’s about playing on the front foot, being aggressive and attacking the opposition. We want to go there with a big-team mentality. We don’t want to go there just to survive.”
“It’s a great opportunity. His playing career is incredible, I remember watching him as a kid for Chelsea, it’s a good indicator of progress for me personally.”
“I’m looking forward to the challenge, seeing his team up close and testing ourselves against them.”
With three games remaining, as well as a Surrey Senior Cup Semi-Final to come, and potentially a final to boot, the schedule remains a busy one even this late in the season, but Agutter confirmed there will be no rotation in approach.
“The fact that we’re in April and the last couple of weeks of the season, and we’re still in contention to win silverware – it’s part of the winning mentality that we want to try and get back into this building – we want to try and get back to the Matt Gray, the Dos [Paul Doswell] era – of winning loads and loads of games and that being the expectation.”
“The fact that we’ve got a cup semi-final in April – we’re competing for silverware this time of the season – is really, really important, so we certainly won’t be rotating or resting. We’ll be playing the strongest team possible to try and win the remaining five games, which is the plan.”
“We’re now above that dreaded line and with a bit of breathing space, but we’re not going to stop, we’re going to keep moving forward, and the first step now is going to Carlisle and trying to win there.”
