Dons manager says that display was not good enough
Neal Ardley was quick to apologise to Wimbledon’s supporters after the defeat at Bristol Rovers today.
The Dons were second best for long spells at The Memorial Stadium in front of 572 travelling Wimbledon supporters and Neal Ardley admitted that it was an unacceptable performance.
, Neal said: “I apologise to the fans because we were poor today. We prepared the players in training for this sort of game. We knew what Bristol would be about with their set-pieces and winning the second balls. We let our standards slip and I must apologise to the fans that made the trip.Dons PlayerSpeaking to
“I am not going to praise our second-half performance because we were not good enough today. I changed the tactics in the first-half, but the players let the staff and the fans down. Ultimately, I have to take the rap for that. It is hard to take the rap when the players do not produce the givens that we prepared them for.”
Neal did feel aggrieved though at referee Gavin Ward’s decision not to award a first-half penalty after a challenge on Michael Smith that ended up with the Wimbledon striker being penalised.
“The referee told me in the tunnel that he thought he saw something, but I think he made a decision based on a guess,” Neal added. “He has penalised our striker even though he was not sure, which is ludicrous. It was a clear-cut penalty and most of the fans in the ground thought it was.
“I have no complaints about the sending off because Sammy went flying into a tackle when he had already been booked.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with Neal Ardley later on tonight.