SUTTON boss Paul Doswell spoke highly of counterpart Paul Cox and his Barrow team as they prepare to cross swords at Holker Street tomorrow.

Doswell brings his FA Cup heroes to Furness on the back of two successive National League victories – with Premier League Arsenal the last team to beat them in front of the TV cameras last month.

Those wins over Torquay United and Boreham Wood have lifted Sutton to 15th, seven points clear of the relegation zone and with a little breathing room from the fear of the drop.

They were the first wins in the league for the U's since New Year's Day – with Doswell admitting the run to the fifth round of the FA Cup did prove a distraction all round, as players were rested to avoid suspensions and the concentration of the team was on ties with AFC Wimbledon, Leeds United and then Arsenal.

Sutton are looking to build on those successes against a Barrow team with only two league victories in their last 11 outings, but Doswell expects a hard game against a side he has a lot of respect for.

“It will be a tough game,” said the affable former Eastleigh and Salisbury manager, who gained much publicity during his side's FA Cup run for vaping on the sidelines during games.

“Paul Cox has been great during our cup run. He is one of the few managers who always sends good wishes and texts. He is a class act and I like him a lot.

“I also like the fact that while he has got some good players in the likes of Byron Harrison, he also gives the younger players a chance.

“I don't think Barrow are very different from us in how we go about it. He plucks players from lower-league teams, he gives them a chance.

“I think they have had an amazing season. When you consider what the other clubs have got and what Barrow have got, to go 26 games unbeaten – we did it last season in Conference South – is nigh-on impossible.

“Everyone in their season has a little bit of a wobble. Barrow have had a wobble over the last three or four weeks, but I know I would have snapped your hand off to be in Barrow's position.”

Doswell will be without Roarie Deacon and Craig Eastmond for the trip to Holker Street, as well as goalkeeper Ross Worner, who was injured in the 3-2 success at Torquay last weekend.

That led to defender Simon Downer taking over in goals. It was a move which drew widespread reaction as it came in the week where U's reserve stopper Wayne Shaw left the club after his much-publicised eating of a pie on the sidelines during the FA Cup game with Arsenal – an incident being investigated by the FA over the gambling implications after one bookmaker offered odds on just such an incident occurring.

Sutton have now brought in Will Puddy on loan from Bristol Rovers to cover for Worner's absence.

Doswell, whose side travel by train to Manchester today, before completing their journey to Barrow by coach tomorrow, said: “The reality is that we very rarely name a goalkeeper on the bench. If Wayne had been with us, he wouldn't have been named on the bench anyway, so the same circumstance would have arisen.

“Ross is going to be out for three or four weeks, which is another blow, because for me he is one of the best keepers in this league. But that's football, you have to get on with it, and getting Will Puddy in has been a good bit of business for us.”

He added: “At the end of the day, Wayne is a very good friend of mine. It has all been with a heavy heart, but you move on quickly.

“Wayne was at my house this week, he is totally comfortable with where he is at, he is off doing a few bits and pieces on the back of it, and good luck to him.

“It's one of those 15 seconds of Andy Warhol fame things. If he can make the most of it, then from my perspective as a mate, he does it with every bit of blessing.

“But the reality, and I will be quite strong on this, was that it didn't really make us look great. Non-league has moved on so much from the days of it being a fag packet and a pork pie. It took it away from the players, it was the players' day, it was nothing to do with me, it was the players who got us to where we got to, and that limelight was taken away from them.

“It wasn't done maliciously by Wayne. He's got this lovely, childish, sense of humour, including setting stink bombs off in dressing rooms and stuff like that. He didn't mean to do it in the way it came across in the end, but when the gambling bit came in and the FA want to get involved, it's something that wasn't tenable.”