Aron Sasu isn’t getting distracted by the bright lights of Stamford Bridge in a week’s time, having starred in our unbeaten start to the season.
It’s been an unforgettable couple of months already for the 18-year-old striker, having signed his first professional contract in June, come on for his league debut against Wrexham, and given a start in the Carabao Cup win over Coventry that set up a date at Chelsea.
“Everyone obviously has that at the back of their mind, it’s a big game, but we’re not focusing on it too much at the moment,” said Aron. “We’ve got Forest Green at the weekend. We’re not just ignoring it - everyone knows it’s there - and we’re being level-headed about it. We’ll go there and put in the best performance we can and just take the tie as it comes."
Aron was speaking after our first session back at our New Malden training base on Tuesday, having taken maximum points on the road last week. Watch the full video interview and a summary is below.
What was it like to be a part of the squad that achieved back-to-back away wins at Colchester and Sutton?
It’s really good at the moment. As a squad we’re in a good place and everyone knows their roles, which is the main thing. We’ve been positive on and off the pitch, which is a big part of it. We’ve been scoring goals, keeping clean sheets and I think we’ve just got to focus on maintaining that momentum we’ve got going into the next few weeks.
It’s good getting a few wins, but we need to keep it going. We’ve not lost a game yet since the start of pre-season. That gave us something to build on, coming out of pre-season unbeaten, and we’ve maintained that sort of form for our first four league games. Now we need to carry on with it - that’s the main focus for us.
Johnnie Jackson has said he wants to see what yourself, Morgan Williams and Paris Lock can do first, even though it’s at a time when he could be making loan signings. How does that make you feel?
I’ve had a lot of involvement from pre-season to now, so I feel that if I’m coming in every day and giving it my all, then the opportunities are there to go and push on. It’s good knowing that the manager has my back and that I have the opportunity to be involved in the squad and that if I do what he wants me to do, then I’ll be in and around it.
Johnnie developed Mason Burstow at Charlton, who made his Premier League debut for Chelsea at the weekend. How much trust do you have in both him and Terry Skiverton and their plan for you?
Even in the last few weeks I feel I’ve made such a big step up, from not having much first team involvement to now being on the bench each week. I also enjoyed making my debut and started the cup game.
I’m in and around it and they have the confidence to put me in there and trust me on the pitch, which is a really good feeling to have from the manager.
So you’re very much part of the squad at the moment, but if the opportunity comes up to get regular first team football elsewhere on loan - how do you feel about that?
The ideal situation is for me to work for a place in the Wimbledon team. That’s what I want to do, but there are other factors that come into it such as game time, other people coming in when injuries happen and how the season develops. Situations can change rapidly, so I take it day-by-day. Right now I think I’m doing well and I’m in a good spot, but as time progresses we’ll see what happens.
What areas would you say you’ve got to work on, since you’ve broken into the first team?
I’m nowhere near the complete player at present. I’m progressing from a striker to more of a winger, so I’m developing loads of different areas of my game at the same time. I’ve been playing much more wider, on the left, so there’s areas on that side that I need to work on. Also, not losing the threat of being a striker and being able to play across the front three would be a real asset.
You’ve got that Norwegian background, even though you were born in Croydon. What do you want to go on and achieve on the international stage perhaps?
My mum is Norwegian, so that’s where being half Norwegian comes from. I’ve been out there once, a few years ago, before the whole Covid situation happened, so that was a little while ago.
Playing at international level is something that everyone aims to achieve, so as the season progresses and if I perform then hopefully another opportunity arises for me there, but at the moment I’m just focusing on what happens with Wimbledon.
Photos: Ian Stephen and Stephen Flynn (Pro Sports Images).