The U’s switch their attention to cup action on Saturday, kicking off their FA Cup campaign in the Fourth Qualifying Round with a trip to Southern Football League Premier Division side Chertsey Town.

Last Time Out

A Mani Dieseruvwe hat-trick condemned Sutton United to a dramatic defeat against Hartlepool United, at a rowdy Prestige Group Stadium.

Jayden Harris gave the U’s a perfect start when he turned home Josh Coley’s cutback to give the U’s an early lead, with Ashley Nadesan doubling their lead shortly before the half-hour mark when he met Eduino Vaz’s inch-perfect cross.

However, Hartlepool would produce a dramatic reaction in the second half, with Luke Charman heading Joe Grey’s cross past Arnold ten minutes after the restart, before a double from Dieservuvwe overturned the scoreline in the hosts’ favour.

Despite enjoying the better of things in the second half, the Pools would be pegged back when Lewis Simper fired home a wonderful effort late on to level the score, but wasn’t enough to steal a point as Dieservuvwe struck again moments later to complete the turnaround.

Watch the highlights here.

The Opposition

Chertsey Town have enjoyed much success in recent seasons, and have been on a rise up non-league after initially declining in the Combined Counties.

With the Curfews struggling to progress from the ninth tier, former Chairman David Rayner returned to the club in 2018 and appointed Dave Anderson as manager, who guided them to the league title with six games to spare, finishing 13 points above their challengers and suffering just three defeats. They would also be crowned winners of the FA Vase at Wembley Stadium in the same season, and continued their success on the pitch during the following campaigns, with successive seasons back in the Isthmian League, as well as reaching the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round for the first time in their history in 2021/22, beating Chesham United and Jersey Bulls before losing to Southend United.

They would subsequently continue a promotion push, losing in the 2022 Isthmian South Central play-off final, but went one better after Mark Harper joined the club, winning the division with a century of points, more than a century of goals, as well as going on an unbeaten run of 36 games from September.

The Curfews would subsequently lose top scorer Gianluca Botti to Whitehawk in the summer, but have added quality to their ranks in the form of Massimo Giamattei from Basingstoke United as well as Ben Mason from Farnborough Town, and currently sit 16th in the Southern Football League Premier Division.

Recent Form

Chertsey Town 1-1 Billericay Town

Chertsey Town 3-2 Ashford United

Bracknell Town 1-1 Chertsey Town

Ebbsfleet United 1-0 Hartlepool United

Dorchester Town 3-1 Chertsey Town

Hanwell Town 0-2 Chertsey Town

The Manager

Mark Harper is someone who will be familiar to some Sutton supporters, with the Curfews manager being a part of the U’s Isthmian League championship-winning side in 1999.

Harper, along with Chairman Mark Turner, also appeared as a player for Chertsey during the 1990’s. After hanging up his boots, he made the transition into coaching and helped out at Spelthorne Sports, later joining Hampton & Richmond Borough in 2011, spending two years at the Beveree Stadium.

Without a doubt, Harper would enjoy his most successful season as a manager with Chertsey Town, having joined ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. He led the club to the Isthmian South Central title, going 36 games unbeaten from September and finishing the season with 100 points, 103 goals scored and just a single defeat.

One to Watch

Conor Lee

Conor Lee will be the danger man for the Curfews on Saturday, having started the 2024/25 season in fine form. Lee opened his account for the campaign with a penalty against Frome Town, and later won many plaudits for his Man of the Match display against Winchester City, with a dramatic hat-trick to rescue a 3-3 draw having been 3-0 down.

The Curfews man has previously turned out for Spelthorne Sports and Met Police, before arriving at Alwyns Lane ahead of their title-winning 2023/24 campaign, in which Lee was their third highest scorer with 12 goals.

Head-to-Head

Chertsey Town 1-0 Sutton United (08/01/2019)

Chertsey Town 1-1 Sutton United (31/01/1997)

Sutton United 4-2 Chertsey Town (20/08/1996)

Sutton United 2-1 Chertsey Town (03/02/1996)

Chertsey Town 1-1 Sutton United (29/08/1995)

Sutton United 2-1 Chertsey Town (22/03/1995)

Played for Both

Anthony Joseph

London-born attacker Anthony Joseph came through the ranks at Chertsey Town, who were then in the Isthmian League Division 2, and went on to score seven goals in 36 games during the 2003/04 season.

After departing Alwyns Lane at the end of the campaign, he would go on to turn out for Bromley, Kingstonian and Ashford Town, where his performances against Sutton in the 2008-09 season persuaded Paul Doswell to bring him to the U’s in summer 2009. He would end 2009/10 with five goals in 35 appearances for Sutton, having also spent a brief time out on loan at Margate.

Joseph would feature a handful of times for the U’s at the end of the campaign, but departed permanently in the summer of 2010, and later went on to play for Carshalton Athletic, Chipstead and Tooting & Mitcham United.

Team News

Hayden Muller was back running during the week and could be nearing a return from a hamstring problem, although he is still a couple of weeks away.

Meanwhile, Dillon De Silva made his long-awaited return from a knee injury sustained on the opening day of the season last weekend against Hartlepool United, and continues to recover fully as he looks to get more minutes in the legs.

Ryan Jackson and Edwin Agbaje remain unavailable, the former with a bruised retina picked up against Southend United, while the latter is still recovering from a hamstring problem sustained during pre-season with Ipswich Town.

You can watch Steve Morison’s full pre-match interview here.

Officials

Aaron Farmer will be the man in the middle on Saturday and is taking charge of a Sutton game for the first time. He has been a National League referee since the start of last season.

How to Follow

Audio

The U’s usual Mixlr audio commentary will be unavailable on Saturday due to FA rules, but supporters can still follow the action via BBC Surrey, who will be providing a live commentary through the BBC website.

This can be found here. Please note that supporters who are listening in must sign up to BBC Sounds in advance in order to tune in.

At Alwyns Lane

The Supporters’ coach leaves at 12pm (meet at 11.45am), with a fare £20 return. There are very few spaces left, so email suttonunitedcoachtravel@hotmail.com as soon as possible to book – payment required when booking.

Parking at the ground, both in the ground and surrounding streets, is difficult.

Chertsey station is about a 15-minute walk from the ground and can be reached from Sutton changing at Wimbledon and Weybridge, with the journey taking about an hour and 20 minutes.

There will be no segregation inside the stadium, and Chertsey will also be putting on a mixed fanzone. We encourage Sutton supporters to get to the ground early.

More than 90% of our ticket allocation has sold out. Any remaining tickets will be made available by Chertsey for online purchase on Saturday, which can be bought here. Please note there will be no pay on the gate admission at the ground.

Ticket Prices:

Adults – £12

Concessions (over 65) – £8

Under 18s – £3

Kit Watch

The U’s will be wearing their amber home kit once again. You can purchase a replica version here.