By Chris Slavin
Darius Charles started his AFC Wimbledon career by playing an integral part in promotion and he's determined to help maintain the club's League One status after returning from injury.
Speaking during an interview for iFollow, Darius stressed that there is no fear among the squad as they prepare for an important match against Oxford United.
"It was an amazing feat to get ourselves into this league and we would like to stay in this league," said Darius, who has put a hip injury behind him. "With 11 games to go, our main focus is on, not necessarily fearing the possibility of going down, but looking ahead of us and seeing how high up the table we can climb. When people are fearful, they clam up, they go within themselves, and as a team you sort of become a bit selfish. As we are not feeling that and continuing to express ourselves, it gives us a great team spirit going forward.
"I think what the fans and everyone watching will see is our determination, our focus, and the real high intensity that we play our games at. Those are just a few of the qualities that we will need going into the last 11 games of the season."
One of the highlights of the experienced defender's time at AFC Wimbledon so far was his fantastic strike at the Kassam Stadium last season, a goal that helped the Dons to finally end that Oxford hoodoo. Darius has particularly vivid memories of that day, but he can't make any promises about repeating it on Saturday!
"I remember scoring a goal, making an assist, and then scoring an own goal! It was an eventful day. We were not necessarily good between the two boxes, but in both boxes we defended for our lives and we were clinical at the other end. It was a good day, scoring a great goal myself, and I really enjoyed it."
Click on the link below to relive that cracking goal from Darius at the Kassam Stadium.