Edon Pruti will start his three-match ban beginning with the visit of Aldershot Town this Boxing Day, and will continue into the new year with the final game of 2025 away at Southend United, as well as the first game of 2026 away at Scunthorpe United.
The Albania youth international was sent for an early bath after a late challenge on Ben Worman towards the end of Sutton’s 4-1 defeat against at Solihull Moors last Sunday, with the referee showing a Sutton player a fourth red card in three games, following on from David Ogbonna, Junior Eccleston and Jake Taylor.
Pruti however will be forced to remain on the sidelines beyond his suspension, having fractured his wrist in the process of the challenge that got him sent off, and he could miss up to six to eight weeks as a result.
The defender is one of a host of players who Chris Agutter has confirmed to have joined Alex Kirk (back), Liam Vincent (ankle) and Jack Wadham (knee) in the treatment room, with a threadbare squad heading into Boxing Day as just nine senior players trained in the build-up to Friday’s clash, with the squad being decimated by injuries in a short space of time.
Hayden Muller, who limped off against Solihull, could also miss up to six to eight weeks with a suspected ankle strain, while Jack Taylor missed the defeat in the West Midlands through injury, being named on the bench only to make up numbers alongside Brandon Njoku, who according to Agutter, had no intention of bringing them, especially after Ashley Nadesan aggravated his injury and left him unavailable for up to two months after playing injured against Shrewsbury Town.
Ogbonna could also miss the visit of Aldershot with a hamstring strain, while in addition, Alex Woodyard has suffered another setback in his recovery from the reoccurring knee injury which has plagued his campaign so far. The midfielder has so far missed the entire season after picking up his injury away at Forest Green Rovers back in August, and despite targeting the clash with Aldershot for a return, he will once again be unavailable for selection.
On a more positive note though, Jake Taylor is set to return to contention, having served his ban after seeing red away at Walton & Hersham the week before, while Eccleston meanwhile is set to sit out one last game of his ban, having been given a three-game suspension after being shown a straight red card against Shrewsbury Town in the Emirates FA Cup at the start of December.
