1:33pm Wednesday 1st September 2010
By Stuart Amos
Sutton United boss Paul Doswell has warned his squad they will need to be versatile if they are to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
The Gander Green Lane chief was forced to re-shuffle his defence for Monday’s 3-0 win at Tooting & Mitcham with Alan Bray (knee), Simon Downer (hamstring) and Jason Goodliffe (sickness) all sidelined.
Bray looks set to be out for up to two months with ligament damage suffered in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Folkestone Invicta, while hamstring victim Simon Downer faces a three week spell in the physio room.
Doswell was forced to bring in former Carshalton Athletic defender Rob Watkins for the Bank Holiday triumph and shift midfielder Tom Dunford to right back.
And the manager insists his men will need to be flexible throughout the campaign if they are to earn promotion in only his third season in charge.
“Losing Alan is a major blow. It doesn’t matter what quality we can bring in, he is one of our best players. As soon as we knew it could be long term we had to bring someone in,” he said.
“We haven’t got the biggest squad. The players are going to have to be adaptable and Monday proved they are able to do that.
“In fairness to Tooting they came to play. To keep a clean sheet with three of our regular back four out was top marks.
“That was the most pleasing aspect for me.”
Goals from Richard Jolly, Fola Orilonishe, and Bradley Woods-Garness accounted for the Terrors at Imperial Fields on Monday after Jolly had given his side a 1-0 home win over Folkestone Invicta.
It sees Sutton, who traditionally finish the season strongly, top of the Ryman League Premier Division after four games as they prepare to host Billericay Town at the weekend.
But Doswell has been quick to play down his side’s flying start.
“It has been a brilliant start and credit must go to the players for the hard work they put in over the summer,” he added.
“But we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We’ve got three very tough games coming up, so we’ll have a clearer idea of where we are after them.
“Our target is four points from every two games, so five from our next three will be fine.”
Saturday is National Non-League Day which will see season ticket holders for Football League clubs given half-price entry at Gander Green Lane.
Sutton’s next three fixtures: Sept 3 Billericay Town (h), 7 Hastings United (a), 11 Alton Town (FAC, h).
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