Post-match reaction from the manager
Neal Ardley felt that defeat against Chelsea was harsh on Wimbledon today and he was particularly pleased with the attacking play from his side.
Speaking to Dons Player, the Wimbledon manager took plenty of positives from his side’s performance after a 3-2 defeat at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
Neal said: “We did a lot of work in preparation for this game and I thought for 65 minutes the boys were outstanding. We showed glimpses of what we can do. Matt Tubbs’ movement was fantastic and Bayo Akinfenwa’s hold-up play gave us a point of attack when we needed it. I thought we kept our shape and the one-on-one defending was good.
“Even though we made substitutions, the fact that we did not see the game out and lost to two set-pieces was the little bit that was annoying. I want to win games and I wanted the boys to come off having won this game because they deserved it with the work that they put in.”
Neal added that he thought winger Sean Rigg produced an “exceptional” performance on his home debut.
Sean was exceptional today. We have not really worked on forward play yet during pre-season. We’ve concentrated on doing our jobs defensively and on our work-rate and intensity when defending. But we will start to build-up the attacking side of things now.” “There were some positives and I thought that Sean was excellent,” Neal said. “If I’m honest he’s been our best in training for the last three weeks. His display came as no surprise to me and I’m glad that he showed it out on the pitch.
Dons Player subscribers can watch Neal’s video interview on our premium channel and we will feature the thoughts of goalscorer Alan Bennett tomorrow.