Ty Jenner took a few moments out of his day to speak to Sutton United fan Ryan Young to give us the inside track on our upcoming cup tie and our first ever meeting between the two clubs. Many thanks to Ryan and we wish Sutton Utd all the best for the season ahead.
- With the season just starting at the weekend, what do you think are the expectations for your club regarding position in the league?
“After the madness of last season, every Sutton fan would’ve taken coming the place above the relegation zone. To have the highest points of a team who didn’t get playoffs shows what a great season we had. I think the expectations are mixed, you always want to do one better the next season, but that would mean getting playoffs in a much stronger league. As the expectations last season were non-existent really, I would take coming about fourteenth and maybe putting together a cup run. We’ve also lost some key players, so I don’t think we’re expected to do as well as last season.”
- Are you happy with your club’ activity and business in the transfer market?
“Generally, I’m not sure of the players we sign as we don’t have much money, so we get them from non-league and develop them. Our academy has really progressed in recent years too, I haven’t seen some of the new signings play, but I’m confident that the recruitment would have been done carefully and that the players are given the best chance to excel.”
- How do you think your team will approach the game? (Style of Play/Sit back/press etc)
“I think we will approach the game with no fear, we are against one of the strongest clubs in the league above us who have played the likes of Liverpool in previous seasons. There is absolutely no pressure on us, just like the Cardiff game last year it will be good to push on and get a goal and just take our chances as and when we get them, because MK Dons are a very good side who will punish us if we make mistakes, just as Cardiff did last year. We beat Wigan and took Rotherham to the wire last season, so I’m hoping we do much the same, MK Dons are no pushovers and will give us a very good game though.”
- Which player do you think the Dons should watch out for?
“I think that the Dons should look out for Donovan Wilson. I think he’s quite underrated and pops up with important goals when needed. He scored for us at Wembley last season and came up with some vital goals home and away for our playoff push.”
- Realistically, where do you think the Dons will finish this season, considering the departures of Twine and Darling, as well as the arrivals?
“I think that MK Dons have an outside chance of winning the league, automatic promotion has got to be your aim at the minimum.”
- This will be the first time the two sides face each other in a competitive match, do you expect your side to field a strong side and mount a cup run, or do you expect Sutton to be prioritising their League campaign?
“I know that with it being the second competitive game of the season, Matt Gray will want to go for it, especially with either a Premier League tie in the next round if we win this game and get another League 2 side in the second round. We could play one of the big boys, and this would be unbelievable for the club as we saw with the Arsenal game.”
- Which game are you looking forward to the most this season in League Two?
“Everyone’s looking forward to 2 games against AFC Wimbledon as we’ve never played them in a league game before.”
- If you could have any current Dons player, who would it be and why?
“I’ve attended a couple of Dons games and I’ve really liked the look of Josh McEachran.”
- Who or what made you support Sutton United?
“Although Sutton aren’t my first team as many of our fans, they’re a great local club in the heart of the community. The ground is a 5-minute walk for me, and I’ve been going since I was 4, and seen us rise up from the 7th tier to League 2. The cup run to end up with the Arsenal game who are my main team, and Wembley last season.”
- Thank you for participating in our Trash Talk, it really helps us to understand and see the perspective of opposition fans. So finally, the most important question of all is what is your score prediction?
“MK Dons 1-2 Sutton United.”
