Dons boss disappointed with goals conceded
Neal Ardley took no consolation from Wimbledon’s late rally against promotion-chasers Oxford United today and said he was very disappointed with the goals that his side conceded.
The Wimbledon manager said that the Dons paid the price for switching off at crucial times during the 2-1 defeat at the Kassam Stadium.
Speaking to Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “I have got that feeling of grave disappointment today because I could not fault the players for most of the game. I asked them to win their battles and to win both boxes against a strong Oxford team and we did all of that. We limited them to very few clear-cut chances and ultimately two moments of madness has cost us. The set-piece has come out of the blue because up until then we had not really been threatened. It was disappointing because all of a sudden we were chasing the game.”
Neal added that he felt his side matched Oxford for the majority of today’s match.
“We won two games last week, but I did not feel that we played well,” Neal said. “I thought we played quite well today on a really difficult pitch. I cannot take anything from it because we have lost the game. I felt that we could get something today and though I cannot say we were the better team I did not think there was a lot between the two sides. We were in the ascendancy during parts of the game. We won 75 per cent of the battles, but we’ve lost 2-1. I feel for the players because they have done a lot of what I asked of them apart from those two moments that cost us. I'm very disappointed because I don't think we deserved to lose today."
Neal said that Aaron Morris was withdrawn with a groin injury and he will be assessed by Wimbledon’s medical team in due course.
Dons Player subscribers can watch a video interview with Neal Ardley and the thoughts of Sammy Moore on defeat at the Kassam Stadium later this weekend.