Dons will reshuffle defence for United test
Neal Ardley will be forced to reshuffle his defence for tomorrow’s New Year’s Day clash at Torquay United with Will Antwi ruled out due to suspension.
Antwi (pictured), who has been an ever-present at the heart of Wimbledon’s defence since Neal Ardley was installed as manager, picked up his fifth booking in the 3-0 defeat against Oxford United on Saturday. With Yado Mambo having now returned to Charlton Athletic, it means that both Pim Balkestein and Mat Mitchel-King are likely to play key roles in defence and Jim Fenlon is also available again after serving a one-match suspension.
Luke Moore was due to be assessed after today’s training session to decide if he can make the trip after he missed the Oxford United match due to illness.
Torquay currently occupy a mid-table slot in League 2 with their attempts to launch a play-off challenge having hit the buffers recently as they have not won since beating Dagenham & Redbridge on 1 December.
Neal Ardley expressed his disappointment with his players after Saturday’s Oxford defeat and he is expecting a positive reaction at Plainmoor tomorrow.
“We had shifted the focus towards adding a bit more quality going forward, but the players switched off defensively on Saturday,” said the Wimbledon manager. “Everything we had worked so hard on defensively went out of the window. We just have to do the best that we can with what we have at the moment and every game is going to be tough in this league.”
Charlie Strutton (knee) and Byron Harrison (back) are both still not fit enough to be included in Wimbledon’s squad.
AFC Wimbledon supporters not travelling to Torquay can listen to full radio coverage from our WDON team at Plainmoor tomorrow by visiting our Dons Player premium site.