Harry Desperate To Avoid Even More Play-Off Heartache

Harry Beautyman remembers when things were rather different for both himself and for Saturday’s opponents.

“They were right up there in League One and looking good for promotion,” the Sutton United midfielder said.

“My team Peterbrorough weren’t doing badly. I was playing really well but I remember Chesterfield were a big club not so long ago.

“They still are but they’ve found out like a few League sides do that this division is not easy and there are a lot of clubs in it who are really ambitious.”

Beautyman became a Posh player back in 2015 after being spotted playing for Welling after he moved up a level from Sutton United.

“It started really well for me after I nicked a move,” he said. “Darren Ferguson signed me and I think I played the first 20 games under him. I loved it.

“Then, as happens, when a new manager comes in with new ideas things can change.

“I loved my couple of years there. I’m still only 26 and would one day love to be playing at that level again but you can’t over think it. My focus is on Sutton and getting into the play-offs.”

That hope seemed to have died at just past 4pm last Saturday.

Gateshead had just gone 2-0 up at Gander Green Lane and the writing for struggling Sutton seemed on that wall.

Then they pulled a rabbit from the hat, scoring four times to beat their top seven rivals and keep the hope of promotion alive.

After reaching the semi-finals and going one step from Wembley last season, they were desperate for another go.

Now they head to the Proact for the live BT Sport game with the belief they can still make it happen.

But there will be someone missing on the team bus heading for Derbyshire.

Manager Paul Doswell is to take a leave of absence until the end of the season to deal with some personal issues.

Ian Baird, Doswell’s trust number two, will guide the team for the final six weeks and they have one goal in mind.

“It was look tricky,” he said. “But sometimes you get that one result which can change everything.

“We’re four points off the play-offs and it wasn’t just the three points we earned last week. It was the way we battled and showed incredible spirit.

“It’s very much still on and we’ll just keep going week-by-week and if we can build on the Gateshead result and use the momentum then we’ve still got a chance.”

But at one point it was looking like Sutton’s ambitions were even greater.

“It’s been a bit frustrating these past few months,” Beautyman added. “Earlier in the season we were at one stage two points off of top with a game in hand.

“We killed ourselves to a certain extent but now we’ve just got to try and make sure we stay in the race.

“Chesterfield under their new manager have really improved in the past few months,” he adds.

“But I’ve always said we’re good enough to do something against any side in this league and hopefully on Saturday we can prove that.

“We’re not worrying about anyone else. We’ve got a bit of ground to make up but as last weekend showed we’re not out of it yet.”

The game will all be shown live on BT Sport 1 and on 4KUHD - kick-off 12.35pm.d

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