Manager reaction after Cheltenham
in League 2 and the Wimbledon manager said he will be working hard to add an extra attacking edge during the summer.thNeal Ardley was disappointed with his side’s finishing position of 15
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal said: “A massive part of my job is recruitment, but I also work hard on the training pitch so that we can cause other sides problems and have a team that we can be proud of. I look at our last four or five games and I think we have been better than the other teams and in some cases far better.
“Alfie Potter could have had four goals today, but we have lacked that finishing touch. I cannot physically put it in the back of the net, but what I can do is find someone who can do that without thinking. It is frustrating, but there are lots of good things. I think we have a really good team, but we just need a bit more of certain qualities to turn that into extra points.
“This season has been disappointing in some ways. That is my personal view and I know everyone will have their different opinions. I don’t feel that we got what we deserved with the performance levels we produced . It has been hard because since the transfer window closed we knew we couldn’t get any more loans in. We tried to work hard to be a productive, attacking team. We have been the better team in our games recently, but it comes down to both boxes. That is why we haven’t picked up an extra 10 points.”
With eighteen-year-old Ryan Sweeney earning the sponsor’s man of the match award in only his second start and Tom Beere also impressing today, the progress of academy products has been a very pleasing aspect this season.
Neal added: “It was great to give Ryan another run-out. I thought carefully about what we would do today. I wanted to give Tom a game in central midfield and he had a very good game. That is how he has been playing for the Under-21s. It was also really important to give Sammy Moore 15 minutes. He has been able to get that little bit of focus in training so that he could come on today. Barry gave him the captain’s armband and that was a good thing to do.
“The fans were brilliant today. I did not want a repeat of last season when it all turned out really flat. I think at Wimbledon we are an honest group with honest fans. The fans have seen the team work hard, but they are just frustrated that we haven’t finished higher. Hopefully, they have seen a bit of the qualities they want in terms of moving forward for next season.”
The full interview with Neal Ardley is now on Dons Player.