Omar Bugiel helped knock Coventry out in the previous round and he’s fit to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup tonight.
The striker netted to get us back on level terms before we saw off the Championship side - and he’s available for the second round tie away to Premier League opposition.
“Omar was just feeling a bit of tightness in his calves at the weekend,” said Johnnie Jackson after Tuesday’s final training session. “He felt the best thing was to come off. There’s nothing out of the ordinary there though and he’s trained and is very much a part of it.”
We’ll check on the fitness of midfield duo Jake Reeves and Armani Little. Like Bugiel, both came off in the draw with Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
“We’re waiting for news on Jake Reeves, he’s being assessed,” said Johnnie. “It looks like Armani will struggle to make the game, so we’ll make a late call. They took knocks, so we’ll just have to wait and see on those guys.”
Although it will come too soon for them, Johnnie welcomed the return to full training of defenders Paul Kalambayi and Jack Currie.
“It’s fantastic that those guys are back,” said Johnnie. “PK has been out a long time and Jack not so long. With PK (knee) it’ll be a slower process with getting him minutes and building his training up first of all and getting him games where we can. We’ll look at arranging a friendly.
“Jack Currie (quad) is a little bit different as he’s not been out so long. This game will come too quick for him, but we’ll build him up and hopefully we’re looking at the Trophy game against Stevenage next Tuesday for him to have some involvement in that.”
Below is a link to Johnnie's full interview, plus a summary of the key points from his update.
How much are you and your squad looking forward to testing yourselves against some of the world’s best?
I can’t wait! I think it’s going to be a great occasion for everyone involved, for myself coming up against one of the world’s top managers and for my players coming up against some of the world’s best players. It’s a chance for our supporters to go to one of our London rivals in their backyard, so I’m excited for everyone.
Of course, your assistant Terry Skiverton will be going back to Chelsea, it’ll be a special night for him too.
It’s where he started his playing career and he’s got fond memories of Chelsea, but he’s very much part of Wimbledon now, going back there and looking to cause an upset. He wasn’t allowed to talk about it until after Saturday’s game, but he’s really looking forward to it. He can turn his attention to it now!
When it comes to Chelsea, do you have to accept that whatever side they are going to put out they are going to be very good, and you can only work on the basics when analysing them?
Whatever they do, they’ve got a clear way of playing under Mauricio Pochettino – he’s instilled that. It would be silly of us to try and second guess what eleven he’s going to put out because they’ve got so many players to choose from. Whoever he does put out there, they are going to be top quality, so we just have to prepare for Chelsea, their style and what they do.
I can’t see that changing much from when I went and watched them on Friday night against Luton. I think they’ll play the same way, the same style, but it’ll be slightly different personnel.
For us, that’s where the togetherness and working as a unit comes into it?
I think that’s key, accepting that they’ll have more possession and being disciplined in our shape and what we do – being comfortable with being uncomfortable too! We’re going to have to suffer quite a bit, possibly, for periods, but when we get our moments, we’ve got to be really clinical and take chances when they come. I want our lads to be really positive when they do get opportunities – to go for the throat. I want them to be really positive with everything they do.
How much is it going to lift you and the players when you get out there and see and see an entire stand filled with yellow and blue?
It’s going to be class! I can’t wait to see it! I was there on Friday night, and I imagined us being there in a few days. I can’t wait to see my players play there, I can’t wait to see The Shed full of yellow and blue, and I’m sure they’ll be making plenty of noise as well - I can’t wait to hear it!
You can listen to full Radio WDON commentary of tonight's game on iFollow Dons.
Photos: Pro Sports Images.
Ultimately the game was decided by a World Cup winner as second-half substitute Enzo Fernandez scored a fortuitous effort after a defensive mishap.
Johnnie Jackson made five changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Forest Green Rovers with Harry Pell, Josh Davison, Alex Pearce, James Ball and Morgan Williams coming in for Omar Bugiel, Ali Al-Hamadi, Lee Brown, Jake Reeves and Armani Little.
Chelsea were into their stride early on, with Williams and Pearce having to be on hand to clear a series of whipped crosses during the first quarter.
Ian Maatsen saw a shot deflected narrowly off target as the hosts look to respond quickly. We continued to defend well throughout the first half an hour, limiting the Blues to long-range efforts that were mostly blocked.
Alex Bass was called into his first notable save of the game a few minutes into the second-half as he palmed Nicolas Jackson’s shot to safety. Our goalkeeper then had to be on hand again as he denied Conor Gallagher from distance.
Bass had to best again as Fernandez took aim from long distance, with our number 12 leaping full stretch to keep out a dipping drive. The Argentine wouldn’t be denied a second time round however as he took full advantage after Bass had failed to clear a through ball.
A late chance in stoppage time almost fell to Al-Hamadi, however it wasn’t enough as the hosts saw it through despite Bass going up for a last-minute corner.
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