It’s not often a manager predicts his team will lose its next match but that’s exactly what Sutton United boss Paul Doswell claimed after seeing his side beat Barrow last Saturday to return to the top of the Vanarama National League for the fourth time already this season.

Goals from Aswad Thomas, Josh Taylor and Moses Emmanuel helped the U’s to a 3-2 victory in front of 1,909 fans, but when asked how his team might fare at fifth-placed Wrexham tomorrow (Saturday), the Sutton boss joked: “We’ll lose. It’s not a problem. We’ll go back down to sixth and then back to the top after that, I suppose.”

Sitting in pole position of the Vanarama National League is like a hot potato at the moment with teams seemingly keen to pass on the leadership each and every week.

As well as Sutton, other recent occupants of the top slot have been Dover Athletic, Dagenham and Redbridge and Aldershot Town, all of whom have gone on to suffer poor results once they’ve reached the summit.

The current league leaders face a good examination of their capabilities over the next few days when they take on Wrexham tomorrow before third-placed Dover come to town on Tuesday.

Wrexham are on a decent run of form and should provide the U's with their toughest test yet.

The Welsh side last tasted defeat at Maidstone on August 19 and in the seven games since have kept six clean sheets.

They heaped further woe on Tranmere Rovers last weekend by winning 1-0 with ten men in front of a crowd of nearly 7,000 and their passionate supporters are desperate for a return to the Football League having suffered relegation back in 2008.

A difficult-looking assignment has been made all the tougher for United who travel to north Wales without influential midfielder Craig Eastmond who picked up his fifth booking of the season late in the game last Saturday.

Despite his obvious disappointment at losing Eastmond, Doswell put a brave face on the situation.

“It’s a difficult trip up there,” said the Sutton boss. “Craig’s been outstanding for us. The problem for a central midfielder in this league is, five bookings in 12 games — all for genuine tackles — it’s pretty much the nature of the beast, but we’ve got other people in Simon Walton who could fit in and possibly Nicky Bailey.”

Eastmond’s suspension comes as a bitter blow to Sutton who have endured a wretched run of injuries recently but they did welcome back captain Jamie Collins and striker Ross Lafayette into the team for last Saturday’s victory, much to Doswell's obvious delight.

“That was big for us. They offer a big physical presence which we knew we’d need against Barrow.

“Lafayette managed to get through the 90 minutes and was very good, and with skipper [Collins], you just know what you’re going to get from him.

“I thought Eastmond and [Aswad] Thomas were outstanding for us.

“Josh [Taylor] got better as the game went on. It was a bit scrappy at times but overall, it was a seven or eight out of ten team performance.”

After 12 matches, the National League is taking an intriguing shape with just three points seperating Maidstone in ninth from Sutton in first.

Sutton have clearly won a lot of respect for their well-documented achievements over the last two seasons and, having recruited well during the summer, are many peoples' tip as a dark horse for promotion.

It's still early days of couse, but the fact United have done so well despite having key players out injured should act as a warning to their rivals, especially after the Sutton boss revealed reinforcements are on their way.

"We've got 22 points at the moment, a great total for us to have. We do have players due to come back, which I think is important," Doswell said ominously.

"We've just got to keep going, game by game.

"Whether we win one, lose one, if we can get to 51 points first and then we'll start looking at where this all leads.

"It's exciting for everyone that we're top, but it's something we can talk about for seven days at the moment.

"No-one seems to be taking up the opportunity to go on and win the next game and the next one.

"It will be a difficult game for us against Wrexham. They beat Tranmere with ten men, so that's a great result for them.

"We're looking forward to it but we know it's going to be a tough one."

Wrexham v Sutton United, Saturday, September 30, kick-off 3pm.

Sutton are at home to Dover Athletic on Tuesday, October 3, kick-off 7.45pm.