Byron Harrison seemed to have a glint in his eye when he talked of creating history with Sutton United following last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Solihull Moors.

The match may not have been a classic but Paul Doswell’s men did what they needed to do - score one, concede none. Job done.

Sutton stretched their unbeaten league run to 10 games courtesy of a stunning overhead kick from Tom Bolarinwa which ensured they remain just two points behind Vanarama National League leaders Macclesfield Town.

With nine matches to go, gaining a place in the Football League for the first time in United's 120-year history is a distinct possibility. 

Harrison did not find the target against Solihull but he was just pleased to add another three points to his team's total at this crucial stage of the season.

“It doesn’t matter who scores, we just have to keep grinding out wins.

“We know we can play better but it’s all about the wins and keeping the pressure on the top side.

“I’ve just come from a club where decent results are hard to come by. So if you get a win, like we did today, then you take it."

Harrison has only been a Sutton player for a month having made a loan move from struggling division rivals Barrow until the end of the season and, with three goals in his first five games, he might just be the kind of experienced head the U's need to help them get over the finish line.

“It’s nice to be involved at the top of the table,” said the Wandsworth-born striker.

“I would love to go up as champions. Everyone in the changing room wants it. They’ve tasted it before - being champions of the [National] South - and they want that feeling again.

“They know what it’s like to go into the run-in and they know how to manage that.

“That’s where I want to be, back in the Football League. I am still hungry and I consider myself a league player.

"I try not to get too caught up with the status of the Football League itself because a lot of players in this division can play at that level."

Before joining Sutton, Harrison was already on familiar terms with the U’s having played for Carshalton Athletic among a host of other non-league sides.

He left Colston Avenue in January 2011 for his first taste of the Football League with Graham Westley's Stevenage and within six months was stepping out at Old Trafford as the Hertfordshire side beat Torquay United in the League Two play-off final.

He went on to enjoy spells with AFC Wimbledon, Cheltenham Town and Chesterfield before joining Barrow in 2016.

Harrison scored twice against Sutton in Barrow's 3-2 defeat back in September — one a penalty and the other a trademark predatory finish from two yards to set up a grandstand finish.

“I loved playing for Carshalton," he said. "That seems like a long time ago.

"You need a little bit of luck to get into the league and I got a break and did OK for myself. 

"Football is such a short career, so I've always tried my best at every club I've played for.

"It was only through circumstance that I didn’t play enough games with Chesterfield in League One. That’s why I went to Barrow in the first place.

“I didn’t force my way out of there, as I am very loyal. I enjoyed my time at Barrow but I was led to believe I wouldn’t get so much game time and I was surprised about that.

“So when a team like Sutton comes in - in the position they’re in - then I feel I can add something to it and people are seeing that now.

“I know if I do the business here then I have a manager that will believe in me."

Doswell has been a long-standing admirer but had to be patient before finally bringing the 30-year-old to the Knights Community Stadium.

Despite a lengthy interest from the Sutton boss, Harrison's move back to south London came as a bit of a surprise.

“The manager was after me for a while and I’ve definitely been aware of his interest in the last couple of years," he said.

“I played against Sutton years ago and he was the manager then. We definitely knew of each other and it just seemed like the right time. I wanted to get involved in what is going on here.

“I was heading down for a Barrow game and I got told about it, so I signed for Sutton on the Friday and played against Wrexham on the Saturday.

"I didn’t train with the team, I just went straight into playing. Sometimes football is better when you just get thrown in at the deep end.”

Having come close to scoring on his debut, Harrison opened his account for Sutton just a few days later with the first goal in a remarkable 3-2 win at Torquay United.

He soon followed that up with strikes against Guiseley and Woking. Both goals came from close range, re-enforcing Doswell’s view that Harrison is a lethal six-yard box striker.

He even had his sights set on snaffling-up Bolarinwa’s overhead kick against Solihull last weekend had it hit the crossbar and not the back of the net.

“I was there. If it had come off the bar, I was there," he said with an air of disappointment.

"You only get a second to think, so you’ve just got to take it. That’s what he [Doswell] tells me to do. Stay in the 18-yard box.

"I prefer the scappy goals. I am a proper striker, I don’t care how they come.

“There are a couple of 25 yarders in the archives, somewhere.”

Ironically, Sutton could make the step up at the expense of Chesterfield - Harrison’s former team - who are currently propping-up the Football League.

The striker suffered a bitter play-off experience during his time with the Derbyshire side.

Under the tutelage of Paul Cook - who recently masterminded Wigan Athletic's FA Cup giantkilling of Manchester City - Chesterfield lost 4-0 on aggregate to a Jermaine Beckford-inspired Preston North End back in 2015 with Harrison an unused substitute for both games.

But the new recruit has a reassuring message for Sutton fans mindful of their own club's pitiful play-off record. 

“I wasn’t planning on doing play-offs this time," he said. "My goal is to get us into the Football League as champions.

"If I do that then I’ll have the best summer I’ve had in years."

Sutton United visit Maidstone United tomorrow (Saturday, March 17), kick-off is 3pm.