Sutton v Harrogate Town: No complacency from Town boss Simon Weaver

The South London outfit sit sixth in the table heading into Saturday’s clash with the Sulphurites, having won 10 of their opening 21 fixtures since entering the EFL.

Just as was the case with Harrogate 18 months ago, Sutton were something of an unknown quantity to many in League Two having spent the entirety of their existence playing non-league football before managing to escape the fifth-tier as champions last term.

The similarities do not end there, with the U’s also forced to rip up a 3G surface and hastily replace it with grass in order that they be allowed to compete at a higher level. Despite that upheaval, Town made a bright start to their maiden League Two campaign (in 2020/21) – and United have done ever better, sustaining their form into the winter months.

“I’m not surprised,” Weaver said.

“They’re a strong outfit with a really good manager. They’re quite similar to us in terms of the energy and desire that they play with and they’ve got real talent in their squad to drive them on.

“I think a lot of people will have under-estimated them because they have come up from the National League – but we won’t make that mistake.

“We get it all the time. People talk about us being ‘plucky’ and ‘good for a small club’.

“Quite often opponents will speak about us being ‘full of energy’ and ‘hard-working’ because they don’t like to give little old Harrogate Town credit for playing better than them,” added Weaver. “But, that’s football sometimes.”