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THE CAZBAR BIG GAME PREVIEW – SUTTON UTD
The game at Harrogate last weekend was a bit of a crazy affair, it was all square for around 30 minutes with little or no sign of what was to come, then all hell broke out.
I think it’s fair to say though that the manner and spirit the game was played gave it the feel of a pre-season friendly as I can hardly recall a tackle or challenge that was remotely questionable.
I would say though that was probably predictable, as much as possible we are trying to wrap our players up in cotton wool and get into the playoffs with a fully fit squad.
As a spectacle it was an enjoyable affair, what’s not to like about us coming out on top after 8 goals, but it could have been a bit of a different score had the woodwork not denied Harrogate on 5 occasions, although on one of those occasions Harrogate did convert the rebound.
There were some decent goals to enjoy as well from both sides, the Gilbey and Tezzy goals probably the pick for us, and the freekick from their dead ball specialist George Thomson.
I do though think we can’t write too much into the game or the result, and the same is going to go for this Saturday, the important thing is to come out of it injury free, with pride the only thing for us to play for, and possibly some of our fringe players trying to make a late claim for a starting place in the playoffs.
So then, Sutton United and all the usual facts and figures below.
Dons (4th) – P 45, W 23, D 8, L 14, GF 79, GA 64, Pts 77.
Sutton (23rd) – P 45, W 9, D 14, L 22, GF 55, GA 80, Pts 41.
Dons (H) (3rd) – P 22, W 14, D 4, L 4, GF 44, GA 23, Pts 46.
Sutton (A) (23rd) – P 22, W 4, D 5, L 13, GF 2, GA 46, Pts 17.
Below is the breakdown of that Sutton AWAY record.
Won – Salford, FGR, Notts County, AFC.
Drawn – Harrogate, Walsall, Mansfield, Grimsby, Colchester.
Lost – Crewe, Tranmere, Bradford, Morecambe, Gillingham, Stockport, Wrexham, Doncaster, Crawley, Accrington, Swindon, Newport County, Barrow.
Below are Sutton United’s last 7 games.
Sutton 2 Crawley 2
Harrogate 2 Sutton 2
Sutton 1 Stockport 3
Sutton 3 Swindon 1
Salford 1 Sutton 2
Sutton 3 Accrington 1
Forest Green 0 Sutton 1
Joking aside that’s not been a bad run-in for Sutton, just one defeat in 7 and only that at the hands of the Champions Stockport, they have given survival a bloody good go and frightened the life out of one or two clubs above them that must have thought Sutton were dead and buried two months ago.
One or two decent results in there, the draw at Mansfield and the victory over neighbours AFC, but for too long they have struggled home and away and with just 9 wins this season relegation was always likely to be the end result.
Striker Harry Smith tops the marksman charts with 13 goals and 3 assists this season and at 6ft 5ins he is a great target man at set pieces. This is his first season at Sutton, and he may choose to move on and join one of the newly promoted clubs from the National League, he may not be the hottest property in LG 2 but with a good service he will do someone a good job next term.
Top of the assists are Aidan O’Brien and Josh Coley with 8 so far but O’Brien went back to his parent club Shrewsbury Town in January and Coley from his RWB berth has had to do the donkey work on his own providing chances.
Manager Steve Morrison was only appointed on January 6th, and it’s been a tough gig so far with very little to work with and was dealt a bloody poor hand to start with and is the 3rd manager Sutton have had this season after Matt Gray was sacked in December, then former AFC player Jason Goodliffe was upgraded from Assistant Manager to Interim and promptly took his team to Merton and beat them 1-0.
I think Morrison is a decent manager and he has certainly got the most out of Sutton he possibly could, and I sincerely hope they stick with him for next season as his non-league experience could be vital for an early return to the EFL.
His record for Sutton stands at P 20, W 5, D 8, L 7 with a 25% Win Ratio, but when you consider Sutton were adrift when he joined them, he gave them a fighting chance of survival and I think he deserves another crack.
In the reverse fixture on September 23rd we could only manage a 1-1 draw at the wonderfully named Gander Green Lane and only thanks to Craig Mac did we come away with anything as he made several fine saves to deny Sutton victory to end a 7 game losing streak, although Gilbey scored our goal and could have nicked it late on as he nipped in at the back post and just squirted it wide..
It was our 4th game without a win and with a 1-0 defeat in our next home game to Harrogate, a 0-0 bore draw next at Walsall, followed by a 2-1 defeat at Gillingham, then the late revival by Barrow in injury time proved too much to take and Alexander was shown the door after just 13 league games.
This will be our 3rd game against Sutton United, the details of which are below.
2022/23 – Dons 1 Sutton 0 (LC) (Grant)
2023/24 – Sutton 1 Dons 1 (Gilbey)
The betting as you would expect has us as favourites but that doesn’t paint the full picture. On Monday we were 8/11 and Sutton were a tad short of 4/1, those prices as you can see below have changed dramatically.
MK Dons 6/5, Draw 14/5, Sutton 2/1
Whilst it would be nice to sign off the league campaign with a win the most important issue is getting out of the game with the minimum of fuss and everyone healthy for the playoffs.
No need for reckless challenges or needless red cards, just stay out of trouble. Rotate a few players and keep them fresh and ready for the bigger prize.
I’m of course going for a win, but I think most of us will be glued to our mobile phones all afternoon to see who our playoff rivals are and stand in our way between us and Wembley, I have a feeling it might change several times.
I’m not going to even attempt to predict who we will face, but for weeks I’ve always felt it would be Barrow, I hope I’m wrong purely for the logistics of getting a good away following.
Enjoy the game.
As they say at NASA…….Confidence is High.
WD
#DonYourWhite
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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight
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