United’s fifth spot finish in League Two this season means they’ll play the second leg of their play-off ties with Bradford at home, a week on Saturday, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s whoever does both games properly that will come out on top.
“I don’t think it makes too much of a difference if you’re home or away, it’s just two fantastic games to look forward to,” manager Paul Simpson said.
“I read somewhere that they’d sold out 22,500 home supporters for Monday, so I’d imagine they’ll do the same again. I’m quite sure we’ll sell out our allocation and that our fans will be out in numbers for our home game.
“All we can do is get ready for it, really look forward to the challenge, because the play-offs is a fantastic occasion to be involved in. I want to go through as winners, I don’t want us to be there to make up the numbers.
“It’s a huge financial boost for the club, that’s the first part of it, and it’s a huge boost for us as staff and players to be involved in it. I certainly prefer being involved at this end than at the other end like we were yesterday.”
“It’s massive, what a thing for us to be playing in. I wish I could put my boots on and I wish my knee wasn’t wrecked. It’s brilliant that we’re involved and I want our players to enjoy it.
“We know Bradford are a good side, we know they expect to be up there, and we’ve got to make sure we perform over these two games to get another go.
“We also know we need to be better but it’s an incredible achievement for this group to be in the play-offs, after where we started last season. Brilliant achievement. Now we have to make sure we go and finish it properly.”
“I’ve said it doesn’t make any difference, but I’m delighted we’re at home for the second leg, that’s a big thing for us,” he continued. “We’ve just got to make sure it helps us and counts, we have to make sure after the first game at Valley Parade we are still in the tie, and the second game you have to be able to go and finish.
“But I would expect Mark Hughes and Bradford to be saying exactly the same thing. I’m really looking forward to it. Bradford City’s stadium is a brilliant place to go, the fans make a fantastic atmosphere, just like ours do.
“Ours are incredible, to bring 1,300 down to Sutton on a 12.30 kickoff is absolutely superb and we’ve got to give them as much as we can to shout about over the next couple of weeks.”
“We have to enjoy what we’ve done,” he said. “We all know there’s been a disappointment with the way it’s finished recently but to put ourselves in this position has been absolutely brilliant.
“I can only thank the directors for the support they’ve given us, the players and staff for what they’ve done, the supporters for backing up, let’s hope we can keep going a little bit longer.
“If you’d offered us Bradford in the play-offs in the summer I would have absolutely snapped your hands off. Back then the players said they thought they could get promotion, that was the challenge set down all the time.
“I didn’t expect it, I didn’t demand that of them, they said it. We said to achieve that you’re going to have to bring your best level of performance, and I think we’ve not done it enough over the 46.
“We’ve certainly done it enough to get in the play-offs, we haven’t done it enough to take it that extra little step. But I’m really pleased, we’re competing against teams, I know it’s not all about money but we’re competing against teams who are absolutely dwarfing our budget, making it look like small change.
“To get the play-offs is brilliant for us, but we’ve got to make sure we keep going. This is a huge thing for the club in terms of finances, and now we’ve got an opportunity to keep ourselves involved in a promotion chase.”
“And we’ve done ok against them, but that counts for nothing,” he concluded. “I think it’s probably fair to say they’re coming into it in better form than we are. I know people say form goes out of the window, I’m not sure it does, but I hope it does on this occasion.
“It’s now how we handle it. It’s who handles it best. We’ve got to make sure we handle it better than Bradford City. It’s who handles the emotions the best, and we’ve got to do everything to make sure that’s us.”
