Manager's verdict on Carlisle draw
Neal Ardley was far from happy with the manner of Wimbledon’s draw at Carlisle United today and he vowed to work hard on rectifying his side’s weaknesses.
The Wimbledon manager felt it was something of a missed opportunity after the 4-4 draw at Brunton Park, despite a thrilling late fightback.
Speaking to Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “As a manager you look at the problems of why we are not winning games. It was a game at 2-1 that we should have gone on and won. Sean Rigg had a chance to make it 3-1 and that would have made a big difference. That would have killed the game. But we are not doing a lot of the basics that League 2 demands and it’s something that we have to look at. We have players with huge experience and know-how and we have to look at what we’re not doing right and why we’re conceding silly goals.
They came out and got at us at the start of the second-half and we were poor for 20 minutes. We showed a lot of resilience to come back, but I think there are a lot of players in there that are not happy. They are happy that they dug in for a point, but not with the things that they’re doing wrong. We’re not closing out games that we should be winning and we have to look at that.” “Their second goal was really disappointing. We had three defenders versus one at the back and we end up defending for our lives to give away a corner. Then we did not defend the corner. It was naïve from us and it gave them a lift just before half-time.
Neal Ardley praised Wimbledon’s away support with 420 Dons fans making the trip all the way up to Carlisle.
“I know that last season the problem was at one end and we’ve tried to rectify that,” added Neal. “That’s going well and we just have to make us a better functioning team so that the fans go home with three points rather than one. But the support we get away from home is fantastic. The fans were also fantastic on Tuesday in the JPT and they are definitely doing their bit.”
The full video interview with Neal Ardley will appear on Dons Player tomorrow.