Neal's update and reaction after Havant friendly
Neal Ardley has confirmed that Barry Fuller will not be risked for Wimbledon’s friendly match at Aldershot Town today (3.00 pm kick-off) with the start of 2014/15 just seven days away.
Wimbledon’s vice-captain suffered an ankle knock during a training camp in Spain, but Neal said the injury is not serious and he expects Barry to return to full training next week.
“Barry is still a bit sore so we will leave him out as a precaution,” Neal said after last night’s pre-season friendly at Havant & Waterlooville. “I’m hopeful that Barry will be back in training on Tuesday. He’s had a lot of game-time in pre-season anyway so I would not want to risk him at Aldershot.”
Neal Ardley will again give young players an opportunity at Aldershot with Under-18s Ben Harrison and Egli Kaja both involved. The first-teamers who were not in the squad at Havant will all play, including Bayo Akinfenwa and Matt Tubbs up front.
Despite a 1-0 defeat at Havant & Waterlooville last night, Neal Ardley took plenty of positives from the match in terms of preparing his squad for the home opener against Shrewsbury next Saturday.
“In the second-half it was a full-blooded game and in terms of intensity it was as close to a League 2 game as we were going to get,” said Neal. “The likes of George Francomb, Chris Arthur and Callum Kennedy were out on their feet by the end and they were taken up to levels that they had not previously reached in pre-season.
“It was end to end stuff in the second-half. I thought the attitude and work ethic of the boys was excellent. Dannie Bulman did not stop running for us. I always want to win games, but there were a lot of positives to take from it.”
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Adults £10; Concessions and Under-16s £5.Ticket prices for the friendly at Aldershot today are as follows: