Dons boss on last night's home draw
said he could not fault his side’s effort and desire last night, but the Wimbledon manager was frustrated with the manner of Dagenham’s equaliser.Neal Ardley
, Neal admitted that his team are paying the price for a failure to carry out the “small details” after two successive league draws.Dons PlayerSpeaking to
“I thought that we were solid at the back and we worked really hard and created decent chances,” said Neal. “But I have told the players that the small details make a difference in this league. We conceded a goal from a throw-in on Saturday and we conceded another one after a throw-in tonight. We gave some instructions at half-time about where we wanted to show their players because we wanted to keep them away from the middle of the pitch. We worked hard to keep them down the sides and to double up on each other.
“Ultimately, they have got in the middle of the pitch and scored because players did not do their jobs. That is the only disappointing thing about the performance though. Dagenham are a good side and they have really good attacking threat. It is hard when you are up against pace because it puts you on the back foot. We were wary of it that and it probably showed tonight with our commitment to going forward. We were not as fluent as we can be, but the boys gave everything and we looked like we had a goal threat a touch more than they did.”
with a dazzling piece of approach play. That unsurprisingly earned praise from the manager, who added that Smith has been working particularly hard on his finishing in training.Michael Smith setting up Peter SweeneyWimbledon’s goal was exquisite in its execution with
“I thought that Michael Smith was phenomenal tonight,” Neal said. “We have worked hard with Michael in training, in particular Bass has been working with him on his heading and finishing. It was a great header from distance and you take that as a really good goal.
“Peter has fantastic feet and ability At times in training he shows that he could play at a level above. Peter saw the run of Michael and that was the most pleasing thing and he has clipped a great ball into his path.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with Neal Ardley very soon, along with the thoughts of Harry Pell on last night’s draw later on.