Post-match reaction after great win against Pompey
Neal Ardley praised Frankie Sutherland’s response to being left out of the Wimbledon team after the young midfielder’s superb goal at Portsmouth today.
Sutherland (pictured) opened the scoring in stunning style at Fratton Park and the Wimbledon manager was full of praise for the on-loan QPR midfielder’s reaction after he missed out in recent weeks.
I was right behind Frankie’s shot and as soon as it left his boot I thought it was going in. It was a great goal. Frankie did exceptionally well for us when he first came in, but he just got tired with the step-up from playing Under-21s football. It all caught up with him a bit. We left Frankie out and I told him the reason why. At the same time, the team started to put a run together, and I said that his time would come again.Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “
“The other day he asked ‘what have I got to do to get back in?’ I told him that he had to keep on training like that because he was outstanding. You can tell when a player has got that confidence and they are refreshed. It was the right time today to put him back in.“
Neal felt it was an impressive overall display from his side at Fratton Park as the Dons made it three wins from their last four games.
“From the moment that we went 2-0 up we had to defend our box,” added Neal. “We knew that we would have to defend well for 15 minutes after half-time, but I thought that to a man we were excellent. We played a different shape because I thought that would be the best way to win the game.
“Ade was upset with himself after the Mansfield game. They dropped deep and denied him the space to run in behind them. It was a learning curve for Ade, but we were brave enough to put him in again today. Everyone was willing him to score at the end when he used his pace well, but it was just not to be.”
It was confirmed by Neal afterwards that Sammy Moore missed out due to illness against Portsmouth.
The full interview with Neal Ardley will feature on Dons Player later today.