Midfielder eager to help Dons progress
believes Wimbledon can hit the ground running next season and challenge at the other end of League 2 after avoiding relegation.Sammy Moore
to revitalise the club for next season.Neal ArdleySpeaking to Dons Player, Sammy, who is one of only four surviving members from Wimbledon’s 2011 Conference promotion-winning squad, backed manager
“Wimbledon is a great club with great expectations and I think we should be looking to climb the league now,” Sammy said. “Everyone can go away and enjoy their summer, but we need to come back in pre-season and make sure everyone works hard. We have to try and hit the ground running because the key in this league is to get a good start. You can then gain momentum and keep winning.
“It is going to be tough to try and reach the play-offs, but if the gaffer recruits right in the summer then I cannot see any reason why we cannot go for it. Neal came in and brought his own players to the club, but the team spirit has been great. One of the first things the manager talked about when he came in was the team spirit and you can see we have that at the training ground every day.
“Having been at the club three years, I am delighted that the club stayed in the Football League, but we need to push on now. Hopefully, we are not in the same position this time next year and we can go for the play-offs.”
Sammy was quick to thank AFC Wimbledon’s staff and the fans for their contributions during a tough season and the popular midfielder says the club’s recent plight led to one or two sleepless nights for himself.
“I would like to thank all those people behind-the-scenes, including the staff working at the offices, for all their help and the supporters because they have been brilliant all season,” Sammy added. “Saturday was one of the best days of my career – the scenes at the end were unbelievable. I did not sleep at all the night before and I woke up excited like a little kid at 7.30 am on the day of the game. We had a lot of pressure on us, but I knew this group of players could stay up and I am really pleased that we got the right result in the end.”
, who scored the opener for Wimbledon against Fleetwood, said that Saturday was one of the best moments of a long career that has involved promotions with Leyton Orient, Millwall and Crawley Town.Gary Alexander
"It ranks up there with the best moments I have had in my career,” Gary said. “When I missed that early chance I was beginning to think it might not happen for us, but we had to remain confident and we did it in the end. The fans were unbelievable and they showed what it meant to them. For such a good club to go down after 11 years of hard work would have been tough to take.
“When I first arrived here the club was rock-bottom, but Neal Ardley maintained a positive environment at the training ground and I think that was reflected on the pitch.”
added that there is plenty of work to do before the summer.Neal ArdleySurvival may have been sealed on Saturday, but
“On Tuesday the boys will be back in,” Neal said. “We have a lot to do in the next three or four weeks in terms of assessing the squad, including making decisions on retention, recruitment and all that kind of stuff. We will all have a couple of weeks off with our families, but we will work incredibly hard to put the next phase of the club in good hands.”
Dons Player subscribers can now watch the full video interview with Sammy Moore on our premium site.