Manager reports that Dons are in good shape
Neal Ardley has virtually a full squad to choose from for Saturday’s match against Mansfield with Dannie Bulman having recovered from a knock suffered in the win at York City.
Bulman (pictured right above) was taken off as a precaution, but he’s trained fine all week. With only Jack Smith and Andy Frampton currently out injured, Neal believes the Dons are in good shape ahead of a busy Christmas schedule.
Speaking during an interview with Rob Cornell for Dons Player, Neal said: “Everyone else is fine and we have a competitive edge. The squad seem to be in good spirits. We have a great game to look forward to in January. If we can go into that in decent form and strengthen the team in January then fingers-crossed we can keep progressing. It would be good if we could go into the Liverpool game in the top half of the table and then no matter what happens we will have good league form to fall back on.
“Dannie was struggling to sprint in the second-half with pain in his gluteal muscles holding him back. Normally Dannie is running around like an 18-year-old with bundles of energy. It was getting to be a tough game at that point in the second-half and I felt it was the right thing to bring him off before he got himself injured.”
George Francomb was a key influence at York last Saturday as the winger set-up all three goals and Neal said the coaching staff had worked hard to get the best out of his creative talents.
“You look at where the goals are going to come from and the creative part of your squad in the summer,” added Neal. “We worked very hard with George and said to him ‘this is the sort of player you are going to be’. I never scored bundles of goals as a player myself, but people knew that when I got half a chance I would try and deliver quality into the box. That’s what George can do and he did it brilliantly last week on three occasions.”
Dons Player subscribers can now watch video interviews with Neal Ardley and the in-form Sean Rigg.