Hayden Muller said it was never going to be pretty, but that Sutton found a way to grind out a narrow win over Tamworth which was built on resilience, organisation and a moment of quality.
The centre half produced a fine display amongst the backline to keep a crucial clean sheet, along with an even more crucial three points at The Lamb Ground.
“Scrappy game,” he admitted. “Scrappy game, as we probably thought it would be. First half, they had the better of the chances. We still defended our box really well, but I thought they had the better of the chances with their long throws and set-pieces.”
“We knew they were a direct team,” he explained. “It’s no surprise – they’ve probably got the longest throw in the league.
We knew we’d have to stand up to that challenge, talk along the back line, and win first and second balls. I thought we dealt with that really well.”
“Second half, I thought we stamped our authority on the game on the ball,” he said. “I thought when Tizzard came on, he was really good. He helped us play out, helped us play through the lines.”
“You saw it with Davide [Rodari]’s goal, Tizz plays a great ball through to Simps, who cuts it back to Davide, and it’s a really good finish.”
Despite the scrappy nature of the contest, the clean sheet was a major positive for the former Millwall man, who got the opportunity to play alongside Besart Topallaj, Callum Tripp and Will Tizzard in Staffordshire; the decision to make a switch at half time not disrupting the defensive rhythm.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we managed to get a clean sheet, which is the main thing,” he said. “From the off, I thought we were really solid. As the game went on, I felt like I was getting more comfortable and they were getting more frustrated. If anyone was going to score another goal, I felt it would have been us on the counter-attack.”
“With the squad we have now, the players coming on are just as strong as the ones starting,” he said. “It’s not too much difference in standard. As you saw when Tiz came on, we went up a level, if anything.
“Personally, I’ve got trust in all the defenders that come on. We see it every day in training. We’re really good in training and we practise it all week, so it was no surprise.”
The importance of the three points wasn’t lost on him too, while he also reflected on his growing role in the side having come back in over the last few months after being frozen out at the start of the season, and has now become one of the first names on the team sheet.
“We knew it wouldn’t be a pretty three points today if we were to get it. But next week back at home, you’ll probably see a better version of Sutton, especially in possession.
“These three points were needed, definitely. They give us a massive confidence boost going into the next few games.”
“I feel like the manager’s got full trust in me – whether I’m playing in midfield or at the back. That gives me confidence to go out there and be a leader, show my personality, whether that’s talking, on the ball, off the ball, defensively.
“It’s been about three or four months now, and it’s just about helping the team win, getting more points on the board, and doing what I can to get us as high up the table as possible by the end of the season.”
