Sutton United manager Chris Agutter praised a “really, really good all-round performance” after the U’s secured an impressive 3–0 victory over Wealdstone.
A dominant first half display was followed by three superb second half strikes from Hayden Muller, Lewis Simper and Kai Jennings as Sutton sealed their biggest triumph of the campaign so far.
“Yeah, I thought we were very good. I don’t think it was our best performance, but I think it was up there, it was in that bracket,” he said. “Today we were very effective, very efficient.”
“I thought we played through very well in the first half, that then forced them to change. Then I thought we mixed it up and played a little bit longer second half. We were brilliant on the second ball. If we weren’t linking off the top line, yeah, I thought it was a really, really good all-round performance.
“Defensively as well we were excellent, well deserved. I thought we were always in control apart from maybe five minutes before we made subs in the second half. Other than that, I thought we were really good. Yeah, we’re really happy with it.”
Despite going in at the break level, Sutton’s issues were addressed at half time and led to two quickfire strikes from Muller and Simper notch with two goals in as many minutes, which put the U’s firmly in control.
“The only frustration maybe at half time was that we weren’t in the lead because we had plenty of territory, created some really good chances, not as ruthless as we’d have liked,” he explained. “The message at half time was we’ve been very good, we’ve been dominant.”
“Make sure a bit of sloppy play or switching off, or them getting a bit lucky, doesn’t give them a foothold in the game. Keep knocking on the door. Keep grinding.”
“As I said, that was the only worry – that we’re so on top, creating chances and not taking them, and a bit of frustration creeps in. But we obviously put that to bed pretty quickly. Great delivery, great header. I’m delighted he’s got his first goal. Other than that, I thought we were again in total control.”
Muller notably opened his Sutton account, a mark of his incredible resurgence after being frozen out at the start of the season, and he earned special praise from his manager.
“I’m delighted for him, really happy. He has been excellent.”
“I think he’s just a very, very good footballer. I think he could probably play anywhere on the pitch. He’s just a really good footballer, very good personality, and he’s incredibly important to us. He’s a real leader in the changing room and, as I said, he’s doing a great job.”
Photo Credit: Luke Davidson
Agutter also singled out Kwaku Donkor for his outstanding defensive display, among a superb backline that saw his side secure a clean sheet, and there was also recognition for Jake Taylor, whose influence since arriving has been significant.
“For me Kwaku was Man of the Match. I thought he epitomised our performance today, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever coached. Absolute greyhound lightning.”
“The beauty of that is he can be double aggressive in his defending. He can be front foot and if he doesn’t get there or he loses the duel, he’s got so much pace and power he can recover the situation.
“We challenged him to be more aggressive and front foot and a bit nastier, dial up the intensity. I thought he epitomised the team’s performance. The amount of interceptions he made and duels he won, I thought he was excellent.”
“As for Jake, I completely agree his impact has been bigger than anyone’s. There’s been some really great additions but Jake Taylor’s the best of the bunch for me.”
Back-to-back wins have now lifted Sutton five points clear of the danger zone and restored belief after a difficult winter period. Looking ahead to Sutton’s clash with Yeovil Town on Wednesday night, the focus remains on building momentum with the table tightly packed.
“In that run, if you haven’t got your best players, it’s difficult. We were obliterated by injuries. There’s no squad in the league that could have coped with the injuries and suspensions that we had. It was outrageous,” he said.
“So for us this is just a reflection of us getting our best players back. We’ve always said we’ve got a really good group of players. For us it’s just a case of giving them a few ideas and a bit of structure, and then they do the rest. As you can see, they’re a very good group.”
“It’s so tight. So yeah, we’re looking up, we’re certainly not looking behind us. We’re looking forward to continuing to build momentum and keep picking up points.”
