Chris Agutter will have a small number of doubts in attacking areas ahead of the FA Cup Second Round tie against Shrewsbury Town, suggesting that the situation could open the door for others to make an impact heading into the televised teatime clash on the weekend.
Ashley Nadesan is likely to remain unavailable having been absent since the draw with Morecambe at the start of November, though he has returned to light training in the lead-up to the match.
While it was suggested that he could return ahead of last Saturday’s match against Gateshead, it proved to come too soon for the Sutton striker, who is set to miss another encounter this weekend.
Furthermore, Brandon Njoku has joined Nadesan in the treatment room after pulling up late on ahead of Saturday’s win over Gateshead, with the former Cambridge United man originally named in the starting XI before being replaced after the warm-up by Kane Crichlow.
Njoku is another question mark, according to Agutter, along with Crichlow himself, who has missed the last few days training due to illness, and means Agutter is light in forward areas, especially after Osman Foyo’s loan move from AFC Wimbleon came to a premature end.
“He [Nadesan] is going to train on Friday, but I’d be surprised, if I’m being honest, if he’s available.”
“Similarly, Brandon Njoku as well is another question mark so that means we’re light in forward areas, especially because Kane Crichlow’s also not been available last two, three days, including the game against Croydon because he’s got a virus.”
“So in terms of centre forward positions we’re light at the moment but could be an opportunity for somebody to step into, step into the void, either from the academy or reposition someone to maybe give us a different type of threat up top.”
Agutter will otherwise have a similar team available to him to the one that beat Gateshead last weekend, with Alex Kirk (back), Jack Wadham (knee), Liam Vincent (ankle) and Alex Woodyard (knee) the only longer term absences remaining in the squad.
Despite this, the Head Coach has suggested he isn’t fazed by a lack of options, having shown his willingness to bring players up from the academy in recent weeks. Charlie Bell has continued his rise into the first team from previous management, receiving many plaudits from the boss, alongside George Vorster’s recent inclusion in both the league game against Gateshead and in the Surrey Senior Cup against Guildford City, before completing 90 minutes against AFC Croydon Athletic during the week.
Commenting on the teenager after his impressive display against the Rams, Agutter said he expects Vorster to feature more for the first team going forward, giving him the opportunity to appear in what would be the biggest stage of his career so far, should he be called upon against the Shrews.
“He’s a very good player. Credit to the academy again, Dacky [Jimmy Dack], Glen [Nichols] and Co, and then also guys at Ashford and Burgess Hill where he’s been out on loan over the last sort of 18 months.”
“You can often find when players go out on loan, sometimes it can be at their detriment, and the biggest credit I can give the guys at Ashford and Burgess Hill is that George has really developed and improved, so they’ve given them a really good environment and couple that with the academy set up, and again, credit to George himself.”
“He’s gone out and worked incredibly hard to work our way into the first team squad, so I think you can see tonight as well he’s one of our best performers tonight. He was one of the one of the more positive performers in the second half as well, so yeah, really happy with him, and I look forward to him featuring more for the first team for sure.”
