By Rob Cornell
Andy Barcham is more focused on helping the Dons push up the League One table, rather than dwelling on having reached a personal landmark for AFC Wimbledon.
Having joined the 100 club with his appearance in the 2-2 draw against Peterborough last Sunday, Andy is now preparing to fight for more points - starting with the trip to Bristol Rovers tomorrow (3pm kick-off).
“Hopefully we can push on and achieve even more things and keep pushing this club forward, as we’ve always done,” said the former Spurs and Gillingham winger, who signed a new deal for the Dons towards the end of last season, having joined in the summer of 2015.
“It’s seems like only yesterday, it’s flown by! I’m very proud of what has happened here so far. Obviously the promotion at Wembley was fantastic and that is always going to stay in my mind. That was an unbelievable season and a fantastic day.
A clip of Andy’s interview with iFollow Dons is available below, via a link to our official club YouTube channel.
“I’d like to think there’s plenty more to come. We’re in a transition stage at the moment, where we’re trying to build on what we’ve accomplished. It’s certainly tough and probably one of the toughest tests we’ve faced at the club, but everyone – right down from the staff, the players and the fans – everyone comes together at this club as always.”
Andy still has a way to go though before he reaches 200 appearances. That’s the figure clocked up by skipper Barry Fuller and he’s soon to be joined by George Francomb - two team-mates Andy makes the commute from Kent with.
The Dons captain and right-back recently hit that particular landmark for Wimbledon, while versatile Francomb is on the cusp of joining his right-sided partner on reaching a notable double century. Andy is very aware of the important contribution the pair continues to make to the side.
“Barry and George are in my car school and they are great for me when I come into work. Around the squad and the changing room they are fantastic with the experience they’ve got. George is still young, to be fair to him!
“With the experience he’s got and the appearances he’s clocking up, he’s got a wealth of knowledge. What they bring to the younger players around the squad is great and they are a massive part of the team. Fair play to them, that’s a major accomplishment for them to make or that many appearances and hopefully I can get there myself.”
With Kwesi Appiah ruled out until at least the middle of next month due to injury, Andy is keen that he and the other attacking players step up the hunt for goals.
“Kwesi is always a massive loss, which I think we’ve seen. As the gaffer said, it gives chances to other people to come in and show what they can do, particularly with the busy period we’ve got coming up and looking even further forward until Christmas,” said Andy.
“At this stage of the season, it’s all about getting results. It’s going to be vital for everyone to stay solid, get some points on the board, and stay compact as a unit, but also to chip away with some goals and hopefully steer us in the path of getting the results.
“We’ve been talking about Bristol Rovers and it’s always a tough place to travel to, so we know what to expect. We’ve been working on a few things and on the tactics, trying to work out how we’re going to go and what’s the best way to approach the game.
“We’ve also been working on a few things that hopefully we’ve learned from in the past and we can put forward and cause them some problems.”
The full interview with Andy Barcham and the pre-match thoughts of AFC Wimbledon assistant manager Neil Cox, ahead of Saturday’s visit to the Memorial Ground to face Bristol Rovers, are available to subscribers of our iFollow Dons premium channel.