Sutton United host Salford City in meeting of League Two promotion hopefuls

Sutton United will welcome Salford City to Gander Green Lane on Saturday in a League Two encounter between two sides with similar ambitions but very different means of achieving them.

Sutton finished just a place and a point outside of the play-off places in what was their first ever football league campaign last season, and despite losing several important players over the summer, a strong start to the current campaign means they sit just two points outside of the top seven at this early stage.

Having achieved an unthinkable promotion from the National League in 2021 thanks to the careful stewardship of long-time chairman Bruce Elliott and the coaching capabilities of now much sought-after manager Matt Gray, the Us have shown few signs that they are happy to settle for survival in the fourth tier.

A quick adjustment to life in League Two last term saw Gray’s side reach the final of the Papa John’s Trophy at Wembley as well as take their push for successive promotions until the final day of the regular season, but the financial reality of competing in the EFL meant key players soon caught the eye of clubs further up the food chain.

Goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis departed for Reading after keeping 17 clean sheets and the club were unable to retain the services of promising Millwall loanee Isaac Olaofe. In addition winger David Ajiboye, who scored eight goals last season and assisted a further five, departed and signed for Peterborough United.

With ground improvements, including the replacement of the artificial 3G pitch at Gander Green Lane, taking a large chunk out of last season’s budget, Gray has had to make do with a raft of loan signings and free transfers as he aims to keep the club on the positive trajectory it has been on since his promotion to first-team manager in May 2019.

But with the U’s currently unbeaten at home so far this season as some of the previously less-heralded members of Gray’s squad have used the summer departures as their opportunity to impress, there are few signs of Sutton starting to regress any time soon.

Although Salford sit just three points above their weekend opponents in the nascent League Two table, their ascension to the football league had little of the same glamour associated with it.

Thanks to the financial backing of a series of former Manchester United players and Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, the Ammies reached League Two for the very first time in 2019 on the back of four promotions in the space of five seasons.

Their willingness to spend heavily and rapidly churn through managers has won them few friends either in non-league nor during the four-year stint they have enjoyed in the EFL, but with former United academy coach Neil Wood now in charge of a squad that is seemingly as well-balanced as it is talented, Salford have made their best ever start to a fourth-tier season.

Three wins from their opening four fixtures saw Wood’s side top the League Two table in mid-August, but Salford have won just once in the league since the departure of top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante who left for West Brom at the end of the transfer window. Finding a way to replace the forward’s goals looks vital if a push for promotion is to be maintained.

Sutton and Salford served up two goalless draws in their first ever meetings in the football league last season, and with both clubs acutely aware of how fine the margins can be between success and failure in the EFL even at this early stage, Saturday’s game is sure to be just as tightly-contested.

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