Manager and player looking forward to Wales trip
Neal Ardley said that it will be a “special cup tie” at Cardiff City for him tomorrow.
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal spoke in glowing terms about a club he left three years ago to become AFC Wimbledon manager.
“There are a lot of people still there who I keep in touch with and they are good people,” said Neal. “For me, it is a special cup tie. It is a club I hold dear to my heart. All in all I spent a good part of seven years there as a player and a member of staff. Alongside Wimbledon, it is a club I have a lot of affection for.”
Neal spent a season with the Bluebirds as a player (the picture above shows Neal tracking Dennis Bergkamp in a cup tie against Arsenal) and he started his coaching career as Academy Manager at the South Wales club.
Neal is under no illusions that it will be a tough task to cause an upset tomorrow night against his old club.
“They are good,” added Neal. “I looked at their bench on Saturday and at the sort of team they may put out if they want to give players who did not play a game. They have Craig Noone, Aron Gunnarsson and Sammy Ameobi. They are top players in that league. It is certainly not going to be an easy game and we will be big underdogs. We at least need to get our performance levels right to make them play at their best.”
Returning to Cardiff City will also be special for Jon Meades, who came through the ranks at his hometown club.
I will obviously have a lot of friends and family who will be coming to watch. I am really looking forward to it, but I have not played as much football as I would have wanted in the last two years so I am excited for every single game that I play.” “I have spoken to a couple of boys there and I know it will be a tough game,” said Jon. “I hope I will be on the team sheet and it would be really good to play against Cardiff.
The full update with Neal Ardley ahead of Cardiff is now on Dons Player, along with an interview with Barry Fuller.