Post-match reaction after vital win at Southend
Neal Ardley saluted his players for giving “absolutely everything” after Wimbledon moved closer to survival with a battling victory at play-off contenders Southend United today.
The Wimbledon manager said he asked his squad for one final push during the run-in before the match at Roots Hall – and they responded with a gutsy 1-0 win against Phil Brown’s men.
“It was just what we needed at this stage of the season,” Neal told Dons Player. “Last week against Bristol Rovers we talked about statistics and how we put those in our favour, but we could not quite get over the line with a win. Today we were never going to win the statistics. Southend are a good team and they were at home and we had to do all the League 2 stuff that was required. We had to defend for our lives. Some of the blocks that our players made in the first-half were brilliant. Whatever they threw at us we dealt with.
“I asked the players before the game for absolutely everything during the last month of the season and they have given me that today.”
Wimbledon’s strike partnership of Kwesi Appiah and Jack Midson provided the crucial edge in combining to engineer the winning goal and Neal was full of praise for the duo.
We defended as a team and we tried to score as a team. It’s one down for us and four to go and we have to push for as many points as we can get this season.” “Kwesi and Jack worked their socks off,” said Neal. “Jack was excellent and we looked a threat up front. They combined well for the goal. George Francomb was out on his feet today and Andy Frampton was carrying a niggle. I can go through the list of every single player because they gave everything.
Dons Player subscribers can watch the video interview with Neal Ardley tonight and the thoughts of Ross Worner after keeping a clean sheet at Roots Hall will follow tomorrow.