Chris Kinnear felt Sutton's greater experience was the deciding factor in Dover's 1-0 home defeat to their promotion rivals at Crabble on Saturday.

The National League game was settled by Kieron Cadogan's close-range effort after 26 minutes but the visitors had to dig deep to protect their lead after having Harry Beautyman sent off following a tackle on Connor Essam around the hour mark.

Dover pushed hard for an equaliser but Sutton got plenty of bodies behind the ball to hang on and condemn Whites to their fifth home defeat of the campaign.

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The game was played on a heavy pitch, with rain falling throughout, and Kinnear said United put their game nous to good use.

He said Kinnear said: "They came to do a job, they got people behind the ball and hit us on the break.

"They are very, very experienced, there's a couple of ex Premier League players in there so that's something, we can't put that experience into our players.

"Half of their side was with them last year as well, more than half so they are used to playing together and in conditions like these, that does help.

"They had a lot of players back behind the ball, that's the way they came here, it doesn't make it easy but it's something we've got to deal with if we want to be near the top."

Kinnear admitted the heavy pitch did not help and was not conducive to the way his team like to try.

He added: "It is difficult (to create) especially on a pitch like that, it's hard to get the ball moving.

"Players were losing their feet, both teams, and that's probably why their player got sent off. He slid in and slid a long way.

"The conditions suited them because they're a big, heavy, strong side. Early on in the season when the pitches were lovely and firm we were running past sides, but it's hard to run past players on pitches like that."

Defeat saw Whites slip to ninth - their lowest position since August - but Kinnear says they remain firmly in contention for a play-off spot.

He said: "There's still a long way to go and a lot can happen between now and then. It's a close league and we've just got to be one of those that doesn't feel sorry for themselves and try to win games."