Agutter: “We Won The Fight”

Chris Agutter praised his side’s resilience after a dramatic 2–1 victory over Scunthorpe United.

A gritty performance secured three valuable points on the road and moved the U’s further clear of the relegation zone, with Brandon Njoku coming off the bench to seal a last gasp winner at the death.

“A great result,” Agutter said.

“To dog it out – hard work, industrious, gritty, with a sprinkling of quality. That’s probably the best way to sum it up, a really good night at the office.”

“The game was scrappy – and that’s probably being complimentary about it – but in terms of the response from Saturday and what we challenged the group to deliver, I thought they were outstanding.

“What the group produced against Hartlepool and Halifax set the benchmark. We challenged them to deliver that again and they’ve certainly done that tonight. Massive result and I think they deserved the three points.”

Having lost heavily on Saturday at the hands of relegation rivals Morecambe, the victory came as the perfect response, with Sutton now moving nine points clear of the drop zone.

“Of course you want a reaction,” the boss added.

“But like I said after the Morecambe game, it’s a young group. It’s inexperienced and it’s learning on the job.

“We can talk about reaction all we like, but those are just words. What the players delivered tonight were actions and as a response I thought it was outstanding.”

“It certainly wasn’t the prettiest game of football. The pitch is difficult, the conditions are difficult, but we didn’t let that fluster us. We still played some decent football in moments but for the duration of the game we were gritty, aggressive and combative. We won the fight.”

“I actually think the scoreline could have been more convincing as well. Their goal comes from a throw-in and if I’m honest I thought the officiating tonight was really poor.

“I felt the officials had an influence on the game in Scunthorpe’s favour, but even in the face of that the players didn’t take a backward step. They kept punching, kept fighting and found a way to add a really big three points on the board.”

The Head Coach made three changes to the starting XI; Jake Taylor returning to the side following concussion along with Charlie Bell and Jayden Harris, and the trio made a crucial impact that allowed the U’s to freshen things up after a hectic couple of weeks.

Furthermore, he touched upon the squad’s growing depth as a clear sign of progress.

“We just needed to freshen things up,” he said.

“The running distances were down on Saturday and maybe I should have rotated then.

“That team has been great for us – they went to Hartlepool and Halifax and produced brilliant performances – but tonight we shuffled the pack and picked a team we knew would run hard, fight and compete.

“It also highlights the importance of the squad. The two substitutes that came on combined for the winner, which is fantastic.”

“Our talisman, our main man Lewis Simper wasn’t involved tonight and we’re still incredibly strong. That’s a sign of the progress we’ve made in developing the squad.”

“Charlie Bell is a very good player and the best compliment I can give him is that we’re comfortable resting someone like Lewis because we know Charlie can come in and deliver.”

After a tight first half, Agutter felt his side gradually grew into the contest, with Sutton coming out the blocks quickest after the interval and led to Osman Foyo opening the scoring after five minutes.

While they did soon after through a Danny Whitehall header, the U’s weathered the pressure in the second half, and the Head Coach felt his side fully deserved the victory.

“We knew it was going to be a grind,” he said.

“Scunthorpe are a great side. The manager and his staff have done a fantastic job and it’s no surprise they are where they are in the league.

“We knew we had to win the fight first and that would give us the platform to go and do the nice stuff.

“For the first ten minutes the ball wasn’t really on the floor, but once the game settled we started winning duels and second balls. That meant we secured possession higher up the pitch and built some momentum.”

“They’re always going to threaten – they’re a very good team and they’ve got fantastic home support here.”

“It was a tough second half but I thought we weathered any storms and created some really good chances ourselves. In the end I think we deserved to win the game.”

Agutter went on to admit that relief was the overriding feeling, before making a point of thanking the travelling supporters after another long away trip.

“When we’re good, we’re good. We’ve shown we can compete with the best teams in the league and I certainly put Scunthorpe in that category.

“But it’s a young group and they’re learning on the job. If we could win ten games in a row then half these players probably wouldn’t be playing at this level. They’re developing and that’s part of the process.”

“I thought the supporters were amazing tonight,” he added.

“The energy, the noise, the backing and the positivity – that’s what we need and it really helps the players.”

“They’ve followed us to Hartlepool, Halifax and all over the country recently and I’m just delighted we could reward them with a massive three points.”

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin