After the longest trip of the season on Saturday, Sutton are back on home soil this evening with a first ever visit from Grimsby Town for a Sky Bet League Two game, kick off 7.45pm. The game will see us supporting the Level Playing Field 'Unite for Access' campaign, further details of which are below.
Originally scheduled for this coming Saturday, the game had to be switched due to Grimsby's superb FA Cup run this season, which has seen them reach the quarter finals for the first time in 84 years, with a visit to Brighton & Hove Albion coming up this Sunday. With Grimsby's midweek schedule between now and the end of the season already full, the only option was to bring the game forward to tonight.
Grimsby were promoted back to the Football League through the National League play-offs last season, beating Solihull at the London Stadium, and they have settled well back in League Two, currently lying just below mid table but with games in hand over most sides, and with just one defeat in their last six games. Only one of their sixteen away league games has been drawn, at Salford, with seven wins and eight defeats in the other matches on their travels, with five of those defeats by the odd goal.
Sutton made it nine games without defeat with Saturday's goalless draw at Barrow and sit just one point outside the play-off zone. There were no fresh injury concerns after the Barrow game, but one piece of squad news is that midfielder Adam Lovatt has joined Farnborough on loan until the end of the season. Assistant manager Jason Goodliffe said: ''Adam was really unlucky to sustain a concussion injury at Carlisle in December as he had got his place in the team and done really well in a difficult period, but since he's been fit the form and fitness of the players in his position have made it difficult for us to put him back in, so we hope hell get some good games under his belt at Farnborough to regain his match fitness''.
Referee Andy Davies is making his second visit of the season to the VBS Community Stadium, having taken charge of the Barrow game in August. He has been on the EFL list since 2012 and is the only referee on the list to have been a professional player.
Tickets are on sale on line here, prices are £20 for adults, £14 for concessions and £6 for juniors, with tickets for under 12s free if bought in conjunction with an adult or concession ticket. Stand seats are £5 extra. Tickets can also be bought at the ground tonight, but prices for adult and concession tickets bought at the ground on the day rise by £2, an increase not applicable to tickets bought on line, even today.
The Sutton fanzone will open as usual at 6pm with food and drink, with Pizza di Prato making their debut tonight. The visitors' fan zone opens at 6.30pm.
Anyone not at the game can watch a live stream through our iFollow service, with a match pass costing £10. Click here to buy a pass. A programme can also be ordered on line to be sent out after the game. Click here to order a copy.
We are tonight participating in Level Playing Field's national campaign 'Unite For Access' - a celebration of accessibility and inclusion for disabled sports fans. Level Playing Field is the leading charity advocating for disabled sports fans in England and Wales, and the campaign has seen EFL clubs designating a game over the past fortnight to support the campaign.
If you want to know more about the work of Level Playing Field please visit www.levelplayingfield.org.uk.
You can also find them on social media by searching Level Playing Field.