Post-match reaction from the Wimbledon manager
Neal Ardley hailed his Wimbledon team for producing a “complete performance” after they defied all that Luton Town had to throw at them at Kenilworth Road today.
Speaking to Dons Player after a hard-fought 1-0 win the Hatters, Neal Ardley said: “The back five including the goalkeeper all communicated well and the midfielders were tireless. The front two combined well for the goal and the substitutes did great too at a tough time. It was a complete performance and we could have won by a greater margin.
“Alan Bennett has been phenomenal in every game this season. He was struggling a bit in pre-season with a calf injury, but he’s played three games in a week now and played on after having stitches. Adam Barrett is a good player and it’s as simple as that, but I could single out every one of our players. We dug in under pressure and when we had chances to pass it we did that well and going forward we could have three or four goals.”
Match-winner Matt Tubbs and his strike partner Bayo Akinfenwa linked-up to great effect at Kenilworth Road, particularly for the decisive goal and Neal was understandably delighted with the contribution of his front two.
“When you put two clever, experienced players together you hope that you don’t have to over-coach them,” Neal added. “Bayo has been phenomenal in every game so far and if he keeps that going I will be chuffed with him. He knows when to hold it up and when to bring other players into the game. Matt is anticipating everything that he does. There was still a lot of work to do for Matt when Bayo put him through and it was a wonderful finish. Hopefully a summer of chasing these players is starting to pay off.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with Neal Ardley later on today and an extensive interview with Bayo Akinfenwa will follow tomorrow.