Dons boss on beating the drop
has assured the club’s supporters that his players will be working “incredibly hard” to put things right after today’s Barnet defeat.Neal ArdleyWimbledon manager
, Neal says Wimbledon have to stay strong after Barnet’s smash-and-grab raid condemned them to a second successive loss and back in the thick of a relegation fight.Dons PlayerSpeaking to
“I felt that there was only one team in the ascendancy, only one team that looked like winning it, and that was us,” he said. “But that’s football and we have to take it on the chin. We have to pick the boys up so that they stay mentally and physically strong. We are capable of winning our last four games. We have to get back to basics in training during the week and we will be working incredibly hard to get what we need.
“We have a good bunch of lads in there and we cannot let all the good work we have done in the last few months go to waste. All the teams down there are in form now and we have to make sure that we do not lose form at a crucial time. We will do everything in our power to make sure that does not happen.”
on the bench, and the Wimbledon manager explained his reasons for the tactics deployed.Gary AlexanderNeal Ardley made four changes to his starting line-up today, including leaving
“Gary has had a long season and has played a lot of games,” added Neal. “We thought he was a bit tired in the game on Friday and we wanted to press them high up the pitch. We went with a front three with pace and energy in the hope that we could get some joy up there and I thought we nullified the game they like to play. That worked reasonably well and they never looked a threat.
“We made it a game we would be better at and I think for most parts of the game we looked like the team who would win it. I told the boys in there though that our delivery from set-pieces was not good enough and there was not enough desire to get in there at times. As a manager it is really difficult because you set the team up in terms of how you think the game will go and one individual mistake costs you it.”
was not considered ready for a return after shaking off illness as he had only taken part in one full training session.Sammy MooreNeal Ardley confirmed that
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