HAVING made his Football League debut at the ripe old age of 28, you can understand exactly why Joe Kizzi is determined to fight tooth and nail to help Sutton United preserve their status.
The 30-year-old defender was snapped up by the U’s in the summer of 2021 as they prepared to make their EFL bow. It was a reward for Kizzi’s perseverance having worked his way through the Non-League ranks.
There were stops at Eton Manor, Enfield, Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt, Wingate & Finchley, Billericay and Bromley on a long and winding road to the EFL.
“From starting out in the depths of Non-League to get to this point is definitely something I can look back on with pride,” he told The FLP on the eve of the 2-1 Good Friday win at Salford.
“I’m happy to have got to the position I’m in now, but it’s not a time to rest on my laurels or take my foot off the gas.
“I feel like I have years left to play so I don’t want to back out now and think ‘that was a good two or three seasons in the league’.”
Confidence
A couple of weekseks ago it looked as thoughh Kizzi, right, who has another year on his contract, would have to look elsewhereere if he wanted to stay in the EFL beyond this term.
The U’s – who host Swindon tomorrow – were bottom of the pile and in serious danger of being cut adrift.
However, successive wins against relegation rivals Forest Green (1-0 away) and then Accrington Stanley (3-1 at home) brought hope they could stage a miraculous late escape.
“We hadn’t had back-toback wins all season so to get that confidence and feeling was massive,” explained Enfield-born Kizzi, who can cover either the right-back or centre-half roles.
“It was at a time when we were almost dead and buried. We were starting to be in a really uncomfortable position away from the clubs around us so to claw them back a bit and put pressure on them to win their games in hand is a real positive.
“Hopefully we can carry on building momentum – you never know what can happen.”
Kizzi believes a combination of factors have been behind Sutt
