Neal's update ahead of match against the Cobblers
are not yet ready to be considered for starting roles, ahead of tomorrow’s match against Northampton.Kevin Sainte-Luce and Will Antwi said that Neal Ardley
, Neal added that flying winger Sainte-Luce (pictured trying an overhead kick against Gillingham Under-21s) could be an option from the bench, but both players are still short of match fitness after midweek run-outs for the development team.Dons PlayerSpeaking to Rob Cornell in his first-team update for
will require when he gets back on the training pitch. We need to get these players up to speed, but it’s a tough league. Although they have been back playing in the Under-21s, they need a couple more weeks. Kevin could be a 20-minute player off the bench so we have that option. I would like to think when we get towards a busy spell in late October/early November that we will have a few more options.”Charlie SheringhamNeal said: “Kevin will need a little longer and Will needs a mini pre-season of three or four weeks, similar to what
Wimbledon will be aiming to make it five wins out of five at the Cherry Red Records Stadium against Northampton Town and Neal Ardley added that the next two home games – Accrington Stanley visit next Saturday – will bring a pressure of a different kind for his players.
“I am always wary of these situations and the expectations of us have grown now,” Neal added. “We have to make sure that we fulfill those expectations. People will think that we have two home games coming up against teams near the bottom and we should win them, but it does not always work out like that. We know what this wonderful game we are involved in can be like. We need to have a real focus to pick up the points.
“If we have any aspirations of doing well this season and having a good season, then we need to try and pick up points in these games. I will be looking for our performance levels to be high and for us to be a threat going forward. If we can do that and keep things tight at the back, then I am sure we can pick up points. We are still a work in progress and we should expect inconsistent spells. When the team does click we can be very good and we certainly have a lot more options than last season.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with Neal Ardley on our premium site, along with the thoughts of Ross Worner. We also feature interviews with Sammy Moore and Luke Moore later on today with both our long-serving players talking about Dons favourite Jon Main, who announced he was retiring from playing earlier this week.