Sutton Utd has made big strides this pre-season from a defensive perspective, believes Chris Agutter. The team rounded off an unbeaten pre-season campaign with a 3-2 victory over Southampton Under-21s. Agutter was delighted with the way his team continued to show the defensive improvements made throughout the summer. "It was a really good workout against a really good Southampton team," he said. "They’re brilliantly coached, obviously coming down with a lot of quality, and it was a really good workout." Although Sutton took a 2-1 lead into the break courtesy of goals from centre back pairing Alex Kirk and Will Nightingale, Agutter admitted he was not entirely happy with the opening 45 minutes. The boss commented on a much better second half, with a tactical tweak allowing his side to defend on their own terms while remaining dangerous on the break. "I felt that in the first half they dominated the football and were probably dictating a little bit too much, even though we went 2-1 up," he claimed. "They were in control, although we were always a threat on the counter-attack. They weren’t getting into brilliant areas as such, but I just felt they were moving us around a little bit too much." "In the second half they probably had the same amount of possession, but we were a lot more in control of the situation." "They were playing well, but we were forcing them to play where we wanted, which obviously led to one of our goals. I think we probably could have scored three or four in the second half as well." Agutter felt Sutton’s physicality caused Southampton problems throughout the afternoon, particularly on the counter-attack and from set-pieces. "I thought we were excellent when we attacked with pace, power and athleticism," he said. "If we’d been a little tidier with our first couple of passes going forward, I think we could have created even more opportunities." "We were a real threat from set-pieces as well, which is great." One player making a welcome return was Emmanuel Osadebe, with Agutter explaining that the midfielder’s minutes had been carefully managed throughout pre-season, together with both Kirk and Nightingale, both of whom marked another encouraging outing after returning from injury. "He’s been back in full training for a period of time," he said. "We’ve just managed his game time to make sure he’s ready for Woking." "It’s great to have him back out there. He was excellent, he’s going to be a huge player for us." "If there’s a better box-to-box midfielder in the league, I look forward to seeing him because he’s a beast, and he’s only just getting started with us." "They [Kirk and Nightingale] were also very good, very solid," Agutter added. "I think it’s the third game in a week and they’ve both been excellent. They haven’t given much away." "Generally, Will Nightingale and Kirky defended incredibly well, as did the team. Especially in the second half, we defended really well. League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 19th in England National League, 47 pts, 11W-14D-21L from 46 games, recent form LLLLD. Goals this season: 59 scored, 79 conceded (-20 goal difference). Title race: 61 points behind leaders York. Last result: Boreham Wood 1-0 Sutton Utd (2026-04-25). Recent form (last 5): 0W-0D-5L (LLLLL, most recent first); lost the last 5. Next fixture: vs Woking (away, 2026-08-08) (10th in the table).