Dons manager wary of complacency
Neal Ardley expects to have a full squad to choose from against Tranmere on Saturday as the Dons aim to extend their unbeaten home run.
Tom Beere returned to full training after his hamstring injury, but suffered a minor setback and the Wimbledon manager is expecting to have everyone available for Saturday’s game.
Speaking to Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “Tom cut his toe in training, but hopefully that’s not too serious. A few of the players have bumps and bruises, but the medical team have gone to work today to ensure that recovery strategies are right. Physically, we need to get the players right to go again. If we need to freshen it up in the last 20 minutes then we will do that.”
Wimbledon take on a Tranmere side currently propping up the rest in League 2, but Rovers have recently appointed former Port Vale boss Mickey Adams as their new manager – and Neal Ardley has warned that there can be no room for complacency.
“We had a meeting today and we talked about our mentality towards the game,” Neal said. “They have a new manager and that always gives a team that lift. We cannot let our standards drop. If we don’t come out with all guns blazing then it will be a tough game.
“I’m going into this game thinking that it will be the hardest match out of our last three. It will be our third game in seven days, but there can be no excuses about tiredness. I’m warning people that we cannot be going into this thinking we are playing bottom of the league and that it’s a definite three points.
“Mickey Adams will have his side organised and they will be fit and strong. He is a manager who knows more than anybody what the lower leagues are about. I’ve watched quite a lot of footage of their game against Mansfield and they battered them. They were by far the better team. We have to do everything right like we did against Plymouth, but add that bit of quality in front of goal.”
Dons Player subscribers can now watch the full video interview with Neal Ardley and an interview with George Francomb.