Bennett urges fans to lift the players once again
Captain Alan Bennett has called on Wimbledon supporters to create an extra special atmosphere for tomorrow night’s match against Hartlepool United.
Wimbledon ended their barren spell at home on Saturday with victory against Exeter earning a first victory at The Cherry Red Records Stadium in over two months, but Bennett says that the Dons must build on it against a Hartlepool side just one point below them in the table.
The visit of Hartlepool has also been designated as We Are Wimbledon Night with supporters having an opportunity to donate contributions to a successful fundraising scheme that has provided support for Neal Ardley’s transfer budget since it was launched last year.
Bennett said: “You just need to graft your way through bad spells and we got a home win on Saturday. We must build on that with another solid performance and another result on Tuesday. We need to get everybody down here again and get the place going. The night games here are pretty special when all our fans get behind the team.
“I’m not sure I can dress Saturday’s game up as an attractive game to watch. It was a real slog and the weather was shocking, but I would just like to thank everyone for coming down and for staying behind us right until the end. We needed the crowd to help get us through the last 10 minutes to get the three points and it was incredible.”
The experienced centre-back believes that Wimbledon’s squad have shown a lot of spirit in recent weeks with the injury list rising and Callum Kennedy was forced off after rolling his ankle on Saturday.
Speaking to Rob Cornell on Dons Player, Bennett added: “Before every game ‘Bazyo’ says that the team starts, but the squad finishes. That is certainly true at the moment because week in and week out we’ve had to cope with suspensions and injuries. We have to use everyone in the squad and players have to step-up and be ready at any time. Darren Jones came in for his debut and he did really well and it was brilliant to see Chris Arthur back out there doing well.”