Team news and views from the first-team coach
Simon Bassey admitted that AFC Wimbledon will ring the changes tonight at Exeter City to cope with a packed schedule.
The Dons made five changes at York on Saturday and with a draw in that match adding a replay to the fixture list, Wimbledon’s first-team coach said there is little option but to rotate the squad.
With loan signings Jonathan Meades and Jake Reeves also in contention, it will be hard to predict Neal Ardley’s starting 11 at St James’ Park tonight.
Speaking to Dons Player, Simon Bassey said: “Apart from the injuries we already had, we have a clean bill of health. We had a few in for treatment after Saturday, but they have come through fine. We will have a similar squad to what we had at York, but with the loan boys added to it. In some ways there are easy decisions to make as some of the loan boys cannot play in the FA Cup and with us now having the replay next week, it will give us a chance to mix it up for each game.
“While the display as a whole was not what we were looking for on Saturday there was some decent performances in there. Christian Jolley came in and done well and Warren Cummings had a really good game. They have given us food for thought going into the games that we have coming up.”
On-loan Norwich midfielder George Francomb will come back into the reckoning tonight after he was ineligible for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at York City.
Simon Bassey believes Wimbledon have displayed a lot of character to battle for results on the road recently with draws at Fleetwood and York showing a steel that was missing earlier this season.
“We showed on Saturday that if we do not play well, then we can still be in there fighting and scrapping to get something out of the game,” he added. “We hope to play better than we did at York though. The pressure is on Exeter as they have not won for a while. We will aim to be hard to beat and try and get the three points.”
The Grecians have failed to win in six matches in all competitions, but Exeter’s FA Cup defeat at Bury on Saturday featured the return of influential former Rangers and Blackpool midfielder, Alan Gow, after injury, and he is likely to start tonight.
The full video interview with Simon Bassey can be viewed on Dons Player.