Simpson: Sutton United won't have flipflops on against Carlisle United

The Blues are aiming to seal their play-off place, with only a dramatic goal difference calamity capable of denying them.

Simpson says he is only focused on winning the game and ensuring Carlisle can go into the play-offs on the best possible note.

But he says a 14th-placed Sutton side who have lost their last six games must be taken seriously.

“I don’t think they’ll need any encouragement. I don’t think they’ll have their flip flops on, they’ll be wanting to finish on a high,” said Simpson.

“We know we’re going to have to be at it and make sure we’re right.

“We’re up in these top places because we’ve done things properly over the majority of the season.

Simpson says Matt Gray's Sutton are a big side who will make Carlisle get the tin hats on (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“We know Northampton or Stockport will get that last automatic place, but we know there are four others who are fighting for three places, so we have to do everything we possibly can to make sure we get one of those.”

Carlisle will finish in the top seven if they win or draw, while a defeat would also see them in the play-offs provided Mansfield Town don’t win at Colchester United as well as bring about a goal difference swing of eight.

• Carlisle United taking the train for last-day trip to Sutton

The odds are heavily in Carlisle’s favour of getting the job done – while a win would give them a strong chance of finishing fifth and securing a home second leg in the play-off semis.

“The only permutation I’m looking at is us winning and finishing fifth in the table,” Simpson said.

“If we do that, we’ve done our job and the rest will take care of itself.

“If we finish fifth, we’ll find out after the game who’s finished sixth and that will decide who and where we’re playing, and that’s all we can do.

“There’s no point worrying about anybody else. I can imagine if we’ve been really poor and two or three goals down there’ll be a bit of a desperate look to try and find out what’s going on at the Mansfield game, but I really hope that’s not the situation – I want to make sure we do our job properly and the rest will just fall into place.”

Matt Gray’s Sutton were chasing a play-off place for much of the season but their form has tailed off in recent weeks.

The south London outfit are winless in ten and have failed to pick up a single point since April 1.

Carlisle will certainly be hoping for a happier trip to Gander Green Lane than last season, when Chris Beech’s Blues were thrashed 4-0.

Carlisle's only previous visit to Gander Green Lane saw a 4-0 defeat last season (Image: Richard Parkes)

On Monday’s opponents, Simpson said: “They’re a big side. They’re quite direct up to the forward players.

“They’re very, very good on set plays, whether that be free-kicks around the 18 yard box, corners or long throw-ins – both full-backs have got a long throw-in.

“It’s going to have to be tin hats on, defend it and do our job properly.

“I think we’ve got players who can cause problems to them in our forward areas and that’s what we’ve got to do.

• Simpson on Devitt injury blow and other team news for Sutton trip

“I think they [Sutton] have had two really good seasons, Matt Gray has done a tremendous job, and they will do everything to try and make sure they don’t finish with seven defeats – and we’ve got to make sure they do.

“There can be absolutely no sympathy, no feeling sorry. It’s about us, we have to go and do our job properly and I really do think if we go about it in the right way, we’ve got enough to come away with a victory.”

Simpson reiterated his warning against taking anything for granted and added: “We can’t think about the play-offs yet.

“Northampton last year were probably thinking about automatic promotion on the last day then they got their pants pulled down [thanks to a 7-0 win for Bristol Rovers], so we can’t be in that position.

“We have to just focus on Sutton and make sure we do that properly, then I’ll really enjoy setting up the schedule for the next two weeks.”