Coach Alan Reeves aims to assemble squad
AFC Wimbledon Under-21s continue preparations for their competitive season in the Final Third Development League with a match at Cray Valley Paper Mills tonight (7.45 pm kick-off).
Following last Tuesday’s promising display at Canvey Island, coach Alan Reeves will once again be looking at several trialists and Under-18 players as he aims to put together a squad for next season.
Under-18s Ryan Sweeney, Ben Harrison, Callum Overton, Billy Bishop, Callum Wilson, Dan Agyei and Dan Gallagher will all be involved, along with Egli Kaja, who scored an extra-time winner in April when the Dons won 2-1 at the Badgers Sports Ground in a London Senior Cup semi-final tie.
Joe McDonnell will be in goal for Wimbledon with Chace Jacquart in midfield and Tom Beere (pictured), who played for over an hour for the first-team at Woking on Saturday, will play for 30 minutes. The rest of the squad for tonight will consist of trialists.
Alan Reeves said: “It’s another chance for trialists to show what they can do and for our young players to get minutes under their belts. We’ve had 15 trialists in so far. I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone with agents because a lot of young players have been released by higher league clubs. But I won’t just sign players for the sake of it. They have to be of a certain quality because we don’t want to sign average players who will stand in the way of us developing the young lads who we already have.”
AFC Wimbledon Under-21s start the competitive season with a match in the Final Third Development League at Leyton Orient on Tuesday, 9 September, and a first home match is two weeks later at home to Gillingham. We will publish a full fixture list on the official website tomorrow.
Ticket prices for tonight’s match at Cray Valley Paper Mills are as follows: Adults £5, Concessions £3, Under-16s free with a paying adult. The full address for the venue is: Badgers Sports ground, Middle Park Avenue, Eltham, SE9 5HT.