Things are looking a lot rosier at Sutton United since two wins and a draw followed their Surrey Senior Cup defeat to Merstham.

A poor run had left them nervously looking over their shoulders in Conference South but such are the small margins in that league that their mini-revival means talk of a play-off push isn’t outrageous.

Sutton fans should have known to put their faith in manager Paul Doswell - to be fair it should be pointed out that most of them did - and it was fitting that he should mark his 400th game in charge with a 2-1 win at Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday night.

Doswell would probably have preferred to keep the real terms of his management of the club a secret rather than be pushed into last week’s impassioned defence after he was criticised on the Amber Planet fans’ forum for taking a family holiday rather than attending the Merstham match.

But now that the reality is out in the open - Doswell has gifted the club £1m during more than six years in charge at Gander Green Lane - a warning shot has been fired.

Some fans have latched onto the fact that, elsewhere in his interview with the Comet, Doswell made the point that he has been "sucked into" Sutton and sees himself being with the club for the next 10 years.

Hopefully that will be the case. But nobody can afford to take that for granted.

It was behind-the-scenes issues at his previous club Eastleigh, where similar investment had helped them rise from the Wessex League to Conference South under Doswell, that paved the way for his move to south London in the first place in 2008.

You can’t help but feel that, sometimes, fans who criticise managers and club officials on fans’ forums and social media feel they have been given some kind of god-given right because they have won a couple of promotions on Championship Manager.

Doswell isn’t pursuing what he describes as his "hobby", he is doing it for real with his money, his time and energy, and with the accompanying family sacrifices that involves.

I’m sure the vast majority at Sutton United are behind him but, if they are not, there would be plenty of clubs out there who would love to take Doswell off their hands.