By Chris Slavin
Neal Ardley was full of praise for Wimbledon's forward play after watching his side get the better of Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion today.
Speaking in his post-match interview for iFollow, Neal said: "I thought we looked good going forward, certainly in the first-half. Some of our interchanging of play was exceptional. Overall, in all of the games, and we've played QPR, Reading, and Brighton, we've more than held our own. That can only be a good sign when you've been playing against that quality of opposition.
"It's always good for strikers to score, you want your strikers to be on the scoresheet. We've brought people in like Mitch Pinnock and Anthony Wordsworth and they know how to score a goal as well. You need goals to be shared around the team if you are going to have a successful season. We know that we struggled with that last season. We are trying our best to turn that into something different and so far there have been good signs. Obviously, it really matters on 4 August."
The manager was particularly pleased with the first 60 minutes of today's victory against the Seagulls with Wimbledon storming into a 2-0 lead, before Brighton edged back into it.
"I thought the intensity we showed for an hour was very good," said Neal. "I've said to the players all along to try and do what we've been working on. If they get it wrong, we will all learn from it, with the way we are trying to press. You sometimes do these things to look at what you need to tweak, so that is great. A couple of times they got their number 10 in behind our midfield and with one through ball they were in one versus one.
"I am really happy. Results do matter and I don't say 'it is only a game, just get minutes in your legs'. We probably couldn't have had a tougher pre-season and I think we've come through it well. I think it bodes well when you are getting a lot of good habits right. Obviously, the nitty-gritty comes on 4 August. We are heading in the right direction. We just have to keep going about things in the right way and keep our heads cool for when the pressure begins."
The full interview with Neal is available via the link to our iFollow channel above.