Sutton take a break from EFL action on Saturday, beginning the quest for an Emirates FA Cup run with a home game against National League South Farnborough.
It will be the first competitive meeting between the sides since January 2015, when goals by Bedsente Gomis and Jamie White gave U's a 2-0 National League South victory that completed a league double, Nick Bignall's only Sutton goal earning the points at Farnborough three months earlier. Boro were relegated at the end of that season and regained their National League South status last season when they beat Hayes & Yeading in the Southern League play-offs.
Hayes were also Farnborough's first victims in this season's FA Cup, a 2-0 replay win at Hayes following a 1-1 draw, and the remainder of the cup run has been comfortable, with a 5-1 win at Swindon Supermarine followed by a 7-0 hammering of Biggleswade Town in the last round. They have also been in in good form in the league, with last week's win against Oxford City lifting them to 17th place in the table and extending an unbeaten league and cup run to seven games. Their squad is likely to include Sam Deering, who was a member of the Billericay side who knocked U's out of the cup three years ago, but Kenny Davis, who moved from Sutton to Farnborough in the summer, will not feature after joining Aldershot on loan last month.
The Hayes theme continues as it was a year ago that U's won 1-0 at Beaconsfield Road at this stage of the competition thanks to Will Randall's goal, although hopes of a third round place were ended at Bristol Rovers. Prior to last week's defeat at Stockport, U's, who like Farnborough lie 17th in the league table, were unbeaten in four league and cup games and will hope to return to that form tomorrow. After the club's appeal against his red card at Edgeley Park was rejected, Omar Bugiel will begin his three game suspension, while Adam Lovatt is cup tied after playing for Dartford in an earlier round during his loan spell. Louis John is set to make his 250th Sutton appearance.
Saturday's referee Alan Young is making his second visit of the season to the VBS, having taken charge of the Papa Johns game against Chelsea in August. He is in his fifth EFL season.
If the game is level after 90 minutes there will be a replay at Farnborough in the week beginning 14 November.
Tickets can be bought on line here, or at the ticket kiosk tomorrow. Admission prices are adults £15, concessions (age 60+ and full time students) £8 and juniors (age 12-18) £3. Tickets for children under 12 are free if bought in conjunction with an adult or concession ticket. There is a £2 increase for seats. For this game, these prices apply whether tickets are bought on line or in person, but we would recommend purchasing on line before leaving for the game to avoid the potential for queues around the ticket kiosk.
The fanzone will open at 12 noon as usual serving drinks and food.
Supporters are advised that, although the proposed rail strike scheduled tomorrow has been suspended, it is likely that rail services will still be heavily disrupted. There was scheduled to be no service through West Sutton, while services were running from Victoria to Sutton via West Croydon but with the last return journey at 17.51. Anyone thinking of using the train in light of this afternoon's news should check the National Rail website here before setting out.
A match programme can be ordered on line here, price £3 plus postage, to be sent out after the game.
Please note that due to FA Cup regulations, the game cannot be live streamed either domestically or internationally. An audio commentary will be available in all areas, but only to holders of a monthly or seasonal subscription on the iFollow service. It is not possible to buy a single match pass for this game.