Midfielder believes his side are close to a revival
says that AFC Wimbledon has a team spirit that will help them through their sticky patch and he believes extra work on the training pitch will pay off soon.Peter Sweeney
ahead of tomorrow’s tough test at Rochdale, the midfielder reckons Neal Ardley’s squad has camaraderie that is better than he has experienced at other clubs.Dons PlayerSpeaking to
“I have been in dressing rooms when everyone has been turning on each other,” said Sweeney. “You can get situations when some players are looking after themselves, rather than the team. But we have definitely not got that here. We are a tight unit and the team spirit is good. We need to stick together, keep working hard, and I am certain that it will turn for us.
“We have done a lot of extra work on set-pieces because we feel that we have let ourselves down. I don’t think we’re a million miles away from getting results again. We have great quality in the team. During the past six games it is not as if we have been getting opened up by teams and they have been battering us. We have been committing silly mistakes. If the manager feels we need extra work on set-pieces then we will work harder to put it right.”
Sweeney, who has been restored to the side in recent weeks after an early season struggle to overcome the serious foot injury he suffered in February, admits he still has a lot to prove in a Wimbledon shirt.
“I have got so much more to come here,” he added. “I want to be back in the team playing 20 or 30 games on the spin. It is a squad game and the team did brilliant when I was out, but I feel I have a lot more to show. We all just need to refocus and get out of this sticky patch.
“Whenever I have played against Rochdale in the past they have been a good side. They like to play football the right way. But we have worked hard this week on how we are going to play and we will be looking for the three points.”
Wimbledon earned a valuable 1-0 win at Rochdale in January, which raised hopes that the Dons could beat relegation. Eight points separate the two sides this time around with Wimbledon coming up against a side currently second in League 2 after manager Keith Hill guided them to seven wins out of eight.
said: “We need to focus on our own performance levels. This team has not all of a sudden forgotten how to win games. We look at the statistics a lot and there are not loads that we are doing wrong. Ultimately, we are conceding the first goal too many times.Neal ArdleySpeaking about the challenge that awaits tomorrow,
“There is not a coaching session we can put on to prevent us conceding the first goal. You could do that if our defence was all over the place, but not if we are just switching off. All we can do is work hard on all the details that go into a performance. We need to cut-out the mistakes and bad decision making at times. We have not been opened up too much by teams and hopefully that will be the same on Saturday.”
. The full interviews with Peter Sweeney and Neal Ardley are now on Dons Player.Rochdale focusIf you missed our team news update yesterday on the official website, you can view this by clicking on