The U’s have the chance to make it four wins on the bounce on Tuesday night, with the visit of Tottenham Hotspur’s Academy in our first ever National League Cup match.

Last Time Out

Two goals in the space of four second half minutes secured a third victory on the spin for Sutton United, with AFC Fylde falling short after a tense but competitive affair.

The visitors saw a flurry of chances during the first half, with a couple of free kicks for Nick Haughton and a couple of headers for Tyler Roberts seeing the Coasters go ever so close to opening the scoring, before a late chance for Besart Topallaj threatened to send the U’s into the break ahead against the run of play.

The U’s turned the screws after the restart though, and began to dominate proceedings with Nadesan going closest after forcing Ben Winterbottom into an error.

While he was unable to make the visitors pay on that occasion though, he finally managed to break the deadlock with a little over 20 minutes to go, with a wonderful volley that flew into the top corner, shortly before Davies made it two, and made the win safe as a result.

Watch the highlights here.

The Opposition

Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to the VBS Community Stadium, and will be keen to jump up to the top of Group D on Tuesday.

Coached by former midfielder Wayne Burnett, Spurs enjoyed a successful 2023/24 campaign as their Under-21’s won their first ever Premier League 2 title. A ten-game winning streak at the start of the season would be ended by eventual winners Peterborough United in the EFL Trophy, but bounced back and went on to win the league phase of Premier League 2, before winning the Play-Off Final at the end of May.

Spurs also finished as Runners-Up in the Premier League Cup, and have followed that up with a difficult title defence this season, currently sitting 19th in the Premier League 2, After ending a four-game winless run against Middlesbrough last week, they will now be looking to gain momentum and kick-start their National League Cup campaign after two draws in Group D so far.

Recent Form

Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 Middlesbrough

Swindon Town 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Crystal Palace 5-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Reading

Arsenal 2-5 Tottenham Hotspur

The Manager

Wayne Burnett

Former midfielder Wayne Burnett has been in charge of the Tottenham Hotspur Under-23’s since 2017, having previously spent two years at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Best known for his time as a player with Leyton Orient, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town and Grimsby Town, Burnett hung up his boots in 2004 and joined Fisher Athletic as manager, winning the London Senior Cup and Southern Football League Eastern Division. A brief stint at Dulwich Hamlet preceded a return to Fisher in 2007, and later spent four months at Grays Athletic.

Burnett would then briefly work as the youth team manager at former club Leyton Orient before taking up the position of assistant manager to John Still at League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge ahead of the 2009/10 season. He would take on the role of caretaker manager following Still’s departure to Luton Town three years later, and successfully guided them to survival in League Two. Burnett was appointed permanent manager as a result, and spent a further three years at Victoria Road.

After being sacked from the Daggers in 2015, Burnett joined Spurs as Head Coach of the Under-23’s.

One to Watch

Callum Olusesi

Midfielder Callum Olusesi has enjoyed a rapid rise up the ranks at Tottenham Hotspur, and has featured in the Under-23 team despite being just 17-years old.

Olusesi was a regular for their Under-18s in 2022/23 while still a schoolboy before going full-time with us as a scholar in July 2023, before being part of their Under-17 and Under-18 Premier League Cup double-winning side last term, as well as playing twice in the Under-19 UEFA Youth League.

He has scored 16 goals over the past two seasons in the Under-18’s Premier League and Premier League 2, and is also their joint-top scorer in their National League Cup campaign with four goals.

The youngster is also an England youth international, winning the Montagu Cup with England Under-16s on the international stage.

Played for Both

Dillon De Silva

Summer signing Dillon De Silva began his career in the Tottenham Hotspur academy, spending three years at White Hart Lane before being released in 2016. He would later move to Queens Park Rangers where he rose through the ranks prior to spells at Torquay United and Wealdstone, which preceded his move to the VBS Community Stadium last summer. The Sri Lanka international has gone on to play five times for the U’s, having recovered from an injury sustained on the opening day of the season.

Team News

Ryan Jackson and Lewis Simper are both set to return after extended periods out. The former had sustained a bruised retina back in September and hasn’t featured since as a result, while Simper went off against Oldham Athletic in October with a knee injury, but both could make their returns to action after 13 and eight outings respectively.

Morison’s full pre-match interview is available to view here.

Officials

Stephen Parkinson is in his second season as a National League referee and has taken charge of two Sutton games already this season, at home to Altrincham and away to Woking. He has also refereed several EFL games including our home game against Harrogate Town last season. Parkinson will be joined on Tuesday by assistants Ashley Allen and Alex Mathieson, along with Fourth Official, Steven Hughes.

How to Follow

Video

Tuesday’s clash is available to watch worldwide on National League TV, and is free to access via a match pass. This can be secured here.

Audio

A Mixlr audio commentary will be available for supporters to listen in to and will be posted on social media accounts before kick-off.

At the VBS

Advance online prices for ground admission are as follows:

Adults: £10

Concessions (age over 60/students with current ID): £10

Junior (age 14-18): £5

Child (Under-14s): Free if accompanied by adult or senior concession

Click here to purchase a ticket.

You can also purchase a bundle to all four National League Cup Group Stage games, with prices as follows:

Adult: £20

Concession (61+): £20

Junior (14-18): £10

Child (Under-14s): £8

This bundle can be purchased here.

Kit Watch

The U’s will be wearing their aubergine third kit this season. You can purchase a replica version here.