Sutton’s Matt Gray happy to settle for a point with promotion rivals Northampton

Matt Gray was happy to take the point after his Sutton side held on for a gutsy 0-0 draw with League Two promotion rivals Northampton.

The 10-man U’s extended their unbeaten run to six games after keeping the Cobblers at bay after Craig Eastmond’s 74th-minute dismissal.

The result keeps Jon Brady’s visitors two points behind United, who sit in the division’s third automatic promotion spot.

“We’re pleased with a point,” admitted boss Gray, whose side have lost just three times at home all season.

“It wasn’t a great spectacle as a game, but we’ve done well to hold on at the end and I’m pleased.

“You fear the worst when you go down to 10 men, but we’ve managed to keep them out and get a clean sheet.

“Of course we wanted to win the game, we want to win every game, but the most important thing was not losing to a team in and around us.

“It’s a positive result for us and if we win next week then it becomes a really good point for us.”

Northampton are yet to win in 2022 after their enforced coronavirus layoff and only second-placed Tranmere have scored less goals among the top nine teams.

And Cobblers boss Brady is desperate to bring in some firepower to secure a League One return.

“What you can say is we are lacking that cutting edge up front, but it’s not for the lack of trying,” he said.

“The effort, commitment, work rate and the bravery to play on a pitch that’s not the greatest, the way we played and moved the ball at times was excellent. It’s just that cutting edge in the final third that we’re missing.

“We have two good chances in the first half and we should have finished at least one of those.

“Unfortunately we didn’t score. I felt overall the way in which we played was really good, but we just couldn’t go on to win it.

“We’re working hard behind the scenes to get someone in. We’re putting in the effort and hopefully we’re rewarded for that effort we’re putting in.

“We are working every hour under the sun. We’re travelling the width and breadth of the country ourselves to do everything we can to try and find the player to help us with that cutting edge up top.

“It’s an ongoing process. Hopefully we can get something sorted.”

Brady was delighted with his team’s performance on a less than ideal playing surface in south-west London.

He added: “I’m pleased overall with all the commitment, the way we dominated the game in the first half and the way we implemented our game plan.

“It went exactly the way I wanted it to in terms of controlling the ball and the way we nullified most of their treats.

“They’re a very tough team to beat here.”