Elliott could be back in contention
Neal Ardley said that there are no fresh injury worries heading into Saturday’s game against Wycombe Wanderers, but he will have to do without the suspended Jake Reeves.
Reeves picked up his fifth booking of the season at Portsmouth on Sunday and is therefore ruled out for a game. However, the toe injury that kept Tom Elliott out of the same game has now settled down and he could return for the home match against Wanderers.
Andy Barcham, who has been out with a knee injury since 17 October, and James Shea are both back in light training, but it is too soon for their returns. Neal added that he will assess Ryan Sweeney’s fitness tomorrow after the defender returned from international duty with Ireland Under-19s.
The Dons will be aiming to make it five league matches unbeaten against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday and Neal Ardley is eager to maintain the momentum with a busy spell coming up.
Speaking during an interview with Rob Cornell for Dons Player, Neal said: “We plan the fitness work so that when we get to a busy period we know that we need to have a light week as far as training goes. We are all set and we are ready to go.
“There were a few things that were clear at the start of this season that were costing us results and we talked about that. I think the performance levels for the majority of the season have been very good and the stats are backing it up. We just have to keep trying to get the points on the board. Ten points out of 12 is great, but we just have to keep picking them up. With eight games to go, can we be in with a good shout?”
Saturday’s opponents Wycombe were certainly bang up there in the promotion race last season, only failing to gain automatic promotion on the final day, and Neal believes they have recovered well after eventually missing out in the play-offs.
“I don’t think you can say that Wycombe have slipped down the league because there’s every chance they would win one of their games in hand and be fourth or fifth,” added Neal. “After what happened last season, I think the way that Gareth has got that team back on the front foot is nothing short of remarkable. You can have a hangover from that sort of thing.
“For a low-budget team, Gareth is proving that it was no fluke and he has got them back at it. It is never anything other than a tough encounter when we play them. Hats off to him and it will be great to see Gareth on Saturday.”
The full update from Neal Ardley is now on Dons Player, along with an in-depth interview with George Francomb.