Sutton United v HarrogateTown : Simon Weaver not surprised to see U's succeeding in League Two

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.

The sight of the Gander Green Lane club challenging for a play-off spot may come as a shock to some, but not Weaver, whose own team have themselves been in and around the division's top-seven all season.

"I'm not surprised," he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"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 underestimated 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.

"But, that's football sometimes. We know that Saturday will be really tough against a good team at this level and we know that we'll have to perform a lot better than we have on our previous two visits there because we've been disappointing on both occasions and lost both of those games."

Sutton are not a small team and boast plenty of power and strength in their line-up, but while Weaver accepts that it will be his important for his own players to match their hosts physically, he insists that Town are coming up against opposition who can play as well.

"We have to expect a similar test to the one we had against Northampton last weekend, there will be plenty of balls coming into our box, so it is crucial that we are more aggressive and defend them better," he added.

"Sutton are a big, powerful unit however that's not taking anything away from the football that they play.

"They've got good width and centre-forwards who can hurt you. At the back they've got centre-halves who know this level.

"So it will be a challenge, but what is important for us is that we impose our way of play on the game - something which we didn't manage to do when we went to Sutton in the National League."

Kick-off at Gander Green Lane on Saturday is at 3pm.