The manager's reaction after York City
Neal Ardley said that Wimbledon’s performance against York City let the supporters down and there must be a response from his players against top-of-the-table Chesterfield on Tuesday.
Speaking to Dons Player, Neal said: “If players don’t put in the brave performances and energy that we need then they will not play. It is that simple because someone else will get their shirt. We’ve got the strongest squad that we’ve had all season and players are playing for the shirt. I expect a response on Tuesday and I think the fans should too. There are no excuses because we were not good enough. I felt let down by the players and I think the fans will too.
“We prepared well for the game and I think there was a lot of nervousness in our play. York worked a lot harder than us and that’s unacceptable. They won the game at both ends. Their two forwards beat our three centre-backs up; they played with intensity and ran us ragged. Our forwards never held the ball up or won a header. In midfield when we did use our extra man we turned around and came backwards again. We need players to be positive, but they were poor in that area and they were too nervous.”
The Dons were not helped by the award of a free-kick that Neal called a “shocking decision” in the build-up to the winning goal.
“The referee (Carl Boyeson) tripped up their player and our player was nowhere near him,” added Neal. “I’ve never seen anything like it. York have scored from the second phase of that free-kick and it was a shocking decision.”
A full video interview with Neal Ardley can be viewed on our premium site.