Team news ahead of home game against Southend
Neal Ardley said that Tom Soares is likely to return to the squad for Saturday’s home match against Southend United.
The midfielder was withdrawn at half-time of the victory against Milton Keynes with an ankle injury and missed the draw at Fleetwood, but he is in line for a return on Saturday. However, Neal added that Dannie Bulman could miss out on the squad.
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “We are hopeful that Tom will be back fit. He did the work on Tuesday and trained today so we hope he is going to be fine. Dannie’s wife is due to have their baby anytime now so we will have to decide whether he is going to be involved or not. By and large, other than perhaps Chris Whelpdale, everyone is fit and raring to go.”
With just eight games to go, Neal added that he was unlikely to let any more of his young players go out on loan, ahead of the transfer window closing for non league clubs today.
“The squad we’ve got is one that we feel we are going to need for the remaining games,” said Neal. “If we can get game-time into one or two we will. We’ve got plans for that, but it is just about trying to get the balance right. If you are going to give one or two youngsters game-time, you have to leave one or two senior players out. They all want to play as well so it’s a balancing act all of the time.
“We’ve set targets for the boys. I will not name those now in case we do not reach them and people criticise us! We had a meeting not long after going out of the cup and we tried to set our targets for the season. I will let everyone know if we’ve achieved them, maybe at the end of season dinner! At the start of the season our target was 52 points and we are nearly there. Once we get there and we are safe, that will be our number one priority achieved and hopefully we can reach number two after that.”
and an interview with Tom Elliott will follow shortly.Dons PlayerThe full update from Neal Ardley is now on