AFC Sudbury challenged to maintain character levels going into back-to-back Bury Town derbies

Coach Danny Potter has stressed that AFC Sudbury must keep the same attitude ahead of back-to-back games away at rivals Bury Town.

The Yellows will twice make the trip to the Atalian Servest Stadium next week, with a Pitching In Isthmian League North Division meeting on Bank Holiday Monday (3pm), followed by another visit for the Emirates FA Cup first qualifying round on September 3 (3pm).

Sudbury continued their unbeaten start to the new season with a 3-2 win at Stowmarket Town on Tuesday night, as Ollie Brown’s extra-time winner sent Rick Andrews’ side through a FA Cup preliminary round tie which had finished 1-1 at the MEL Group Stadium last weekend.

Potter has said he wants to see more of the same character from his players when they head into a double header of A134 derbies on the road, with hosts Bury also boasting three wins and a draw from their opening four games in all competitions.

“We showed the character that we’ve got now,” Potter said, following Tuesday’s win at Stowmarket. “To go 1-0 down at a place like this (Stowmarket) against a team like this and come back, it just shows the character we’ve got to get through.

“It’s great for the supporters and for the club it’s so important. What we achieved last year (getting to the first-round proper of the FA Cup) was great for us.

“For the young players as well to experience all of that and get a game on telly was brilliant. There’s a long way to go yet.

“The attitude has to be right. We’ll all do our work on the opposition and try and give the players as much information as possible on what they could come up against, so it’s not surprising.

“We need to stick together. We’re not going to win every game. We know that.

“It’s been a great start for us, but we will lose games. We need to show that we can bounce back and stop a rut and get back to winning ways when that happens.”

Sudbury finished seventh in last season’s North Division, five places and 19 points ahead of their Suffolk rivals Bury, who had run riot when the two sides met on New Year’s Day, scoring four times in the first half to win 4-1 at the MEL Group Stadium.

The Yellows won the reverse clash 1-0 back in April, with Potter ensuring the importance of the fixture was made aware to his players after that defeat a few months earlier.

“I don’t know if the players we had at the time for that first game knew the importance of it to the club or to the supporters,” Potter said.

“If they weren’t aware before the game, they were made aware after the game and that it wouldn’t be tolerated.

“The second game with Bury we showed grit and determination, and we did so well defensively.

“I think we had something like 23 clean sheets last year. Rick (Andrews, manager) wants to play more exciting football and get at teams this year. It was a tough league last year and it’s going to be tough again this year. I’d say there will be six teams pushing for promotion, so let’s see what happens.”

Ahead of next week’s derbies, Sudbury host Gorleston in the North Division on Saturday (3pm).