Dons boss is far from happy with display
refused to defend his players after a performance against Northampton that he said was simply not good enough.Neal Ardley
The Dons slipped to a second successive defeat for the first time this season and Neal was far from happy with his side’s overall display.
, Neal said: “We worked this week on movement and the timing of runs into the box so that we were all on the same page, but we just did not do it today. We were sloppy defensively and that is another goal from a set-piece that we have conceded from today. I am not going to mention names, but I have told a few people in there. I am not going to defend them like I did last week. It was not good enough. We set the team up against the system that they play, but when you concede from a set-piece you are chasing the game and it gave them something to cling onto.Dons PlayerSpeaking to
“We prepared the boys and told them what jobs they needed to do, but I have to give full credit to Northampton. Adie Boothroyd set them up well, they put in fantastic performance, and they fully deserved to win. But we did not do enough; we put in about 30 crosses and did not get on the end of one of them.”
Neal added that Wimbledon have to be prepared to dig deep and respond in the right way after two defeats on the bounce.
“All we can do is roll our sleeves up now,” said Neal. “I was used to doing that last season and I have told the players that we have to recover and go again. We have so far bounced back well from defeats and this is the first time we have had two defeats on the trot. This is probably the first really bad performance since Exeter away and that was eight games ago. It was not good enough, but I am certainly not going to press the panic button.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch Neal’s reaction on our premium site and we will feature the thoughts of captain Alan Bennett tomorrow.