Sutton United's management team have denied they are feeling the pressure ahead of Saturday's Conference South trip to Newport County.

The club are 16th in the table after a slow start to the season, which has yielded just 11 points from a possible 36.

But Harford has scoffed at talk the tension is mounting.

"The chairman has not said anything to me about it and the only ones talking about pressure are the newspapers," he said.

"All we can do is try to build on the win against Thurrock.

"Some of our recent performances have been good but we haven't got the results.

"We could have played much better last week and we still got a win which is promising."

Sutton will face Newport without the suspended Lewis Gonsalves, while Hazel is sweating on the fitness of club captain Peter Fear.

Harford expects a physical encounter, with former Bolton Wanderers striker Nathan Blake and ex-Swansea City forward Julian Alsop in the County line-up.

"They are a big and powerful outfit, with plenty of league experience," he added.