Neal Ardley was proud of his side’s commitment to the cause at Charlton today and he said that he could not have asked for anything more from them in defeat.
Speaking during his post-match interview for iFollow, Neal said: “Charlton have had one attempt on target and scored from it and that’s the way it is going for us at the moment. The players are fighting for each other, fighting for me, and the club. It is hard because we are competitive against good teams, but we cannot seem to get that momentum going at the moment. I am a fan of this club because I love the club. I see a group of players giving absolutely everything and I cannot ask for anything more. Everyone from the midfielders to the wide men and the forwards, they have all run hard and given everything.
“We knew that we had to limit the space for their three players behind the striker. We did that and they have hardly created a chance all game. The position that they are in tells you that they have won a lot of games. They won away at Bradford last week, they have threats all over the pitch, and I am sure that they have a decent budget for this league.”
Wimbledon suffered a blow in the build-up to today’s match with Will Nightingale suffering a hamstring injury on Friday, the defender joining Harry Forrester on the treatment table.
“We lost Harry on Thursday and we lost Will in training on Friday,” said Neal. “That was a big blow to us, but the players who did play worked their socks off for each other without the ball. The fans were magnificent today and I saw a well drilled and cohesive team fighting for each other.
“I don’t know if it was a wonder goal or a lucky goal (winner from Ricky Holmes), but it was their only attempt on our target. Five minutes earlier Deji had a great chance to put us 1-0 up and that’s the way it’s going for us at the moment.”
The full post-match reaction from Neal and an interview with Andy Barcham are on our iFollow channel.