AFC Wimbledon

Interview with winger ahead of Northampton tonight

Chris Arthur believes he’s close to recapturing the early season form that made him such a hit at AFC Wimbledon, ahead of tonight’s match against his former club Northampton Town.

The 24-year-old winger made seven appearances for the Cobblers during 2011/12, but he had to reignite his career in non league after failing to earn a permanent deal at Sixfields Stadium.

However, Arthur’s dashing displays down the left for Wimbledon have proven to be a potent weapon for Neal Ardley’s men since he joined last summer. An ankle injury sustained in October curtailed his progress, but Arthur hopes his cameo role in the thrilling 4-3 win against Cheltenham Town on Saturday showed that he’s getting back to his best.

“The intensity in training has been good and I’ve been working a lot harder,” Arthur told Dons Player. “I’m feeling a lot fitter and sharper now. I’m starting to feel like I was before I had the injury. I think I’m getting better. Everyone wants to start games, but I’m happy to play a part in the performances of the team.

“I was not there (at Northampton) for very long, but I learned a little bit about League 2 during that spell. It would obviously be good to play and beat them. They are fighting for their lives so it’s going to be a scrap. They need the three points, but we want them too. It’s got down to that stage of the season when everyone is fighting for something with teams trying to stay up, get into the play-offs, or go for automatic promotion.”

The Dons have come from behind on so many occasions this season with Saturday’s win against Cheltenham once again showing the tenacity of Neal Ardley’s men in adversity. Arthur believes that healthy competition within the squad at the moment is certainly helping Wimbledon move closer to survival.

“We always believe that if we can get a goal back then we can come from behind, but we did not expect it to be as manic as Saturday,” added Arthur. “We’ve made a few comebacks this season, but nothing like that. We believed we could do it if we got a quick goal back, but then we scored three goals in less than three minutes. It was certainly a good game to be involved in.

“There are over 20 players now fit in our squad and everyone has something to prove. There is a lot of competition and everyone wants to play or be in the squad. It’s good to have that sort of competition.”