Striker praises Dons travelling support
Bayo Akinfenwa was delighted to rescue a point for Wimbledon by getting back among the goals at Leyton Orient, but he said the squad must work hard to be more clinical.
Akinfenwa’s late header rewarded the 1,274 Wimbledon fans that made the trip and he praised their support as “immense” afterwards.
However, the striker was convinced that his side should have had more to show for their efforts than just his fifth League 2 goal of the season.
You could turn around and say that we need to be more clinical, but that is something we are going to work at on the training field to try and put right. Speaking during an interview with Rob Cornell for Dons Player, Akinfenwa said: “We upped the tempo and played to our strengths. We bombarded their box by putting crosses in and that’s what we are good at. We were picking up second balls and we had a number of chances, but their goalkeeper made some great saves. It’s a positive that we are getting into good positions to score.
“We have to take the positives and we cannot be too disappointed with a draw at Orient. They are a very good team with a massive budget and to come here and get a draw is a decent result. We started a bit slowly, but the manager changed his formation, and it was different after that. Obviously, the sending off helped us, but even before that I felt there was only one team in it. It’s another point for us in terms of moving up the table. We have not got a game for two weeks, but we will get back on the training field and look forward to Stevenage.”
The picture above (taken by Micah Crook) shows Akinfenwa about to net the all-important equaliser and he was quick to salute the contribution of Ade Azeez and Wimbledon’s supporters on the day.
“I’ve talked about Ade a lot before and he has stepped up even more now,” added Akinfenwa. “Ade is not only scoring goals now, he is providing them. He whipped in a cross and luckily I was at the back stick to put it in the back of the net. It’s always nice to score goals as a striker, but more importantly it’s about getting points on the board for the team.
“It looked like our fans had sold out the away section and it felt like a home game. Our fans our immense when they are with us. It’s so uplifting. They need to stick with us and keep showing that support because it’s immense when they are on it.”