Left-back on tonight's Plymouth test
Jack Smith says there can no excuses about tiredness during a busy spell of matches in October and he’s determined to repay the fans for their support against Plymouth tonight.
The left-back (pictured) only recently returned to the side after seven weeks out injured, but he says that a busy schedule has been carefully managed by Wimbledon’s coaching team.
“Playing three games in a week up to the Bury game was tough for me because I’d been out for so long, but it was just a case of getting through it and trying to build-up my fitness week by week,” said Smith. “It takes a bit of time to get that match fitness up, but I feel alright now.
“I think the approach of the management team has really helped during this spell. After the Milton Keynes win they gave us a couple of days off and they don’t make you travel in when it’s just a warm down day after a match. In those situations we’re okay to keep ourselves ticking over at home or in the gym using a heart monitor. This definitely helps, particularly for the lads who travel from far away.”
And Smith is eager to produce a better performance on the pitch for the fans tonight after Saturday’s defeat against Wycombe.
“It wasn’t good on Saturday and the manager let us know that it was probably our worst display of the season,” added Smith. “A lot of our fans were cheering and clapping, but at other clubs I’ve been at I don’t think that would have been the case. Our fans kept singing right until the end and their support will certainly help us. We did not perform, but we will be aiming to put that right against Plymouth.
and if it does not go our way against Plymouth we could be looking over our shoulders. It’s so tight and a run of wins would put us right up there again.”th“We were hoping to go on an unbeaten run, but it did not happen for us on Saturday. If we would have won we could have been in the top-six. Now we’re down to 13