Chris Agutter admitted his frustration after his side were held to a draw against Aldershot Town, pointing to a slow start as the key issue.

He felt the opening stages set the tone for a difficult afternoon, with goals from Callum Stewart and Ryan Hill giving the Shots the advantage within the opening 16 minutes, before Lewis Simper gave Sutton a lifeline only four minutes later.

Despite the slow start, Agutter praised his side’s reaction after falling two goals behind, and he was clear that such slow starts cannot continue.

“We started the game really slowly. Defending our box was nowhere near where it needed to be and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.”

“I said after 15 minutes that nothing had really happened. We hadn’t done anything, and it was a really poor start.”

“The players deserve a massive amount of credit for the response.”

“After the effort they put in recently, it would have been easy for them to go under, but they didn’t. They showed brilliant determination to fight their way back.”

“It’s frustrating because if we start with that same edge and appetite, we probably win the game.”

“We can’t keep giving ourselves mountains to climb.”

The Head Coach also pointed to the inexperience within his squad as a factor in moments of poor decision-making, believing those small details have cost his side in recent matches, before a tactical change during the second half helped swing momentum.

“It’s another indication of how young we are,” he said.

“Some of our decision-making is not where it needs to be. We’re crying out for a bit more experience in certain moments.”

“With a bit more experience, we probably see games out better and don’t put ourselves in these positions. But we know what we need to improve.”

“We needed to find a way back into the game. We changed shape to get more control and go around their press, and it worked.”

He reserved special praise for Toby Byron, who made a strong impact after coming on, notably showing his pace and powerful to make space to thread a pass through to David Ogbonna, who won the penalty that Simper fired home for the leveller.

“I thought he was excellent,” he said. “Probably man of the match, if I’m being honest.”

“He gave us pace and power, and every time we got him into a one-v-one, he caused problems.”

“It became as simple as getting the ball out to him and letting him attack.”

“He had the beating of their full-back and was a big reason we got back into the game.”

Agutter went on to explain the simplicity of the approach in the closing stages, and despite the frustrations, he acknowledged the importance of taking something from the game, reiterating his desire for continued progress over the remaining fixtures and emphasising the need to learn from matches like this.

“Not losing is important, especially from where we were. But we want more than that. We want to finish the season strongly.”

“It’s about building momentum now,” he said. “We want to finish as high as we can and keep improving.”

“It’s another reference point for us. The group has done a great job, but we know where we need to get better. We’ll keep working, keep learning, and keep moving forward.”