Defender Ritchie Sutton was glad to feature in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers, after being stretchered off in our previous match.
The 27-year-old required over 10 minutes of treatment on the pitch, in our recent loss to Chesterfield in the Second Round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
“I was happy to play,” said Sutton, who has been a near ever-present for us this term. “I spoke to the gaffer a few times before the match, but I felt okay.
“When I was taken off, it did look worse than it actually was. I was ‘blacking out’ so the physio had to take precautions.
“When I look back at the incident, the ball was in the air for a long time and ‘Mazza’ (Alan Marriott) has made the decision to come for it.
“I didn’t know he was coming, so I couldn’t pull out of the challenge. Unluckily for me, I was knocked out from it, but no one is at fault.
“It was a weird feeling when I was on the ground. I’ve never been in that position before, and things around me were going black.
“That’s when Simon (Murphy, physio) made the decision that I couldn’t carry on. I was conscious and knew what was going on, but I thought the floodlights had gone off at one point.
“I was a bit dazed afterwards, but I vaguely remember the fans cheering at the end, so it was nice to get that support.”
He added: “On Friday, in training, I felt as good as usual, which is why I said to the gaffer that I was fit enough to play.”
On our upcoming away games at Torquay United and Bury, Sutton added: “Both these next two away matches are against teams low down in the table.
“We’ve got to put the last three home matches, where we haven’t picked up as many points as we’d have liked, behind us.
“I’ve played at Torquay before, when I was at Stafford Rangers, and they were in the Conference, so I know what to expect going there.
“I know they are a good team and a good club, so we’re going to have to be on our game, if we’re going to pick up any points.”
