Christian urged to grasp his chance
Simon Bassey has insisted that the door is still open for Christian Jolley to force his way back into AFC Wimbledon’s plans after his loan spell at Newport County.
The pacy forward has recaptured his scoring form with the Blue Square Premier leaders and struck a double against Gateshead on Saturday.
Jolley will remain with Newport County until early January and Simon Bassey says it is an opportunity for him to play his way back into contention at Wimbledon.
Speaking to Dons Player, Wimbledon’s first-team coach said: “We have seen in the past that when players go away and do well on loan, then the door is never shut. We are monitoring Christian’s progress closely and he has gone away and scored three goals in three games. He is a terrific lad and has a great attitude for hard work – I never expected anything less from him. We are getting good reports from Newport about Christian so he is not out of our minds.”
With Wimbledon having a virtually fully fit squad to choose from now after the return of senior players in recent weeks, Simon Bassey admitted that places are up for grabs in Neal Ardley’s line-up. Toby Ajala produced a debut performance at Milton Keynes on Sunday that staked his claim for another starting spot at Barnet and the Wimbledon management are looking for other players to do the same in the coming weeks to help the side move away from the relegation zone.
“Results determine what places are up for grabs and our results have not been good enough,” Simon Bassey added. “Everyone is under pressure to put performances in and stay in the team. Toby came in on Sunday and gave a really good account of himself. Toby was tired near the end, but he still filled gaps well and used his brain. He could be really pleased with his performance on the day.
“We had our first training session back after the Milton Keynes match yesterday. We also had a meeting with the boys to go through a few things that we need to improve upon to move up the table. Now that we have got the Milton Keynes match out of the way, it a real chance for the management to start stamping their authority on training sessions and the changes they want to make. Our position in the league is not where we want to be. We do not want to be in a relegation battle and we have to start moving away from the bottom places as soon as possible.”
The full video interview with Simon Bassey can be viewed on Dons Player.