Team news and views from the boss
Neal Ardley will today assess the fitness of Byron Harrison before choosing his squad for tomorrow’s clash against Wycombe Wanderers.
Wimbledon's top scorer Harrison returned to full training this week after shrugging off a back injury and he has more chance of making the bench than Sammy Moore, who is also back in training.
The Wimbledon boss also told Dons Player that he has a decision to make over whether to pitch Chris Hussey straight in at left-back as he has not played competitively since Coventry’s 2-1 win at Brentford on 23 October. Warren Cummings (hamstring) is unlikely to be risked though so the left-back spot is up for grabs. Peter Sweeney could make his debut in the centre of the park.
Neal Ardley said: “Sammy has been out for a lot longer than Byron. We will have a look at them today and see whether they could offer something from the bench. We have had a really hard week of training with no game during midweek. Both Chris and Peter are fit, but being match-fit is a different thing. We need to assess the fact that Chris has not played a competitive game for over two months and he only started training with us yesterday. We will have a look at that and see what is best.
“We have to be careful with Warren. Though his injury feels okay, we do not want to risk him for the sake of rushing him back. He is therefore a doubt. He has done brilliant for us in recent weeks. Warren is a great character and he has been brilliant while we have been trying to recruit players as he knows a lot of players. He is a big part of what we are trying to do in helping us survive this season.”
Neal Ardley added that he will relish going head-to-head in the managerial stakes with his old Wimbledon team-mate Gareth Ainsworth, but he expects it to be a tough battle against Wycombe Wanderers tomorrow.
“I do not think it is going to be pretty,” he added. “No one is going to apologise for that and I think our fans will agree that if we get three points then it does not matter how we get them. Gareth has done brilliant with Wycombe winning five of their last nine games. They are good at what they do and they work incredibly hard for each other. Gareth is a brilliant motivator and it is going to be tough. We have to do the hard side of the game well and if we do that then it will give us a platform to show what we can do.”