Team news and the manager's thoughts
Neal Ardley will be forced to make changes to his midfield for the home match against Mansfield Town on Saturday with Sammy Moore suspended and Harry Pell having suffered a knee injury.
Sammy Moore faces a one-match ban for being sent off at Bristol Rovers and Pell is struggling to shake-off a training ground injury.
With defender Kevin Feely having gone back to Charlton Athletic due to injury, the Wimbledon manager is therefore having his squad options tested at the current time.
Speaking to Rob Cornell at the training ground, Neal said: “It’s tough because we are a little thread bare. We’ve got a few niggles here and there and Harry got his studs caught in Kevin Sainte-Luce’s laces the other week. It’s not a terrible one, it’s a sprain, but we’ve got to let that settle down.”
Whatever the personnel of Neal’s squad on Saturday, he is demanding that his players produce a response in front of their own fans after Wimbledon’s last match ended with a 3-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers.
“We’re going to go out and give it a go and I want to see a performance that reflects the hurt of a poor display against Bristol Rovers,” Neal added. “We’re probably the one team that sets teams off on a run. We seem to enjoy playing teams at the top that little bit more and I’ve made this point to the players.
“They’re aware that it’s not good enough and it needs to change. We need to play well in every type of game and this Saturday is no exception. If you sat down with every player I’d like to think that they would give you the same answer about how we’re trying to play and what we’re trying to achieve.”
Highlights from the last time that the Dons played Mansfield in April, 2011, are available on our You Tube channel by clicking on Conference clash .Dons Player subscribers will be able to access the full interview with Neal Ardley on Friday, along with the thoughts of Ross Worner.