An update from Neil Cox ahead of away game on Saturday
Neil Cox today confirmed that Chris Whelpdale had returned to training as AFC Wimbledon gear up for Saturday’s match at Bolton Wanderers with almost a full squad to choose from.
Whelpdale has shaken off the groin injury that has kept him out for most of 2017 and Jon Meades is also vying for a place in the squad for Saturday after an ankle problem.
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neil Cox said: “Everybody is getting fit and we are raring to go. Jon Meades has trained again and Chris Whelpdale has trained today. We are getting a full squad back. There is only Barry Fuller missing at the moment so we are good at the moment.”
Though it was an experimental formation on the pitch at Glanford Park on Tuesday night, Neil added that the 3-5-2 formation deployed so successfully against Scunthorpe is one of several systems that the management team had been working on.
With Bolton on Saturday and fellow League One high-flyers Fleetwood up soon, our assistant manager reckons it’s important to retain that flexibility.
“We’ve got some big games coming up,” said Neil. “Obviously we go to Bolton now and we will need to be organised. I am not sure how they are going to play, but they will be big, strong, and good from set-pieces. We will have to change one or two. We still have Fleetwood to come too and they are up there so it is going to be difficult.
“There are loads of ways that we can change as we have a lot of players who can play in different positions. We have been working on formations for the last four or five weeks to change things. Against Scunthorpe we changed it by playing with a three at the back and with two wide men in the team. It obviously worked. We will have a look at it to see who we have got available and who is fit to play. We will go with a formation that suits us and to stop them from playing, especially against Bolton. We will work out a good formation.”
Neil was delighted with the support shown at Scunthorpe in midweek and he is grateful for the backing the squad has received to help them come through a difficult run of form.
“Home and away the support has been fantastic,” added Neil. “On a wet Tuesday night at Scunthorpe everybody turned up and enjoyed it. We thank them for their support and the boys love it. They always go over to the fans before and after the game and there’s nothing better than getting very good support from your fans. The board of directors have also been very supportive by being positive and saying that things would change. Around the training ground we have ‘Bayzo, who is a bubbly character. The main thing is that we come in every day, we have smiles on our faces, and we get ready for the next game.”
The full six-minute interview is on Dons Player with WDON’s Rob Cornell posing the questions to Neil and an interview with Paul Robinson will feature tomorrow.