Simon Bassey will assess Scott Wagstaff’s fitness before selecting a squad to face FC Halifax in the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday.
The experienced midfielder missed Tuesday’s match at Peterborough due to a hamstring injury, but there is a possibility he may have recovered in time to feature. However, Kwesi Appiah is ruled out with the hamstring injury he picked up as a substitute at the ABAX Stadium.
Speaking during an interview for our iFollow channel, Simon said: “We’ve picked up a couple of knocks from the game against Peterborough. Kwesi will miss out on Saturday, but we hope to have a couple more back in the squad. Scott is a possible, we will see how he is. He went for a scan earlier in the week and the results were fairly positive. How he reacts to the work will determine Scott’s availability for Saturday.”
The Dons will come up against an FC Halifax side currently 15th in the National League, but the Yorkshiremen knocked out Morecambe in the last round after a replay. Since that match, Simon Bassey has completed plenty of research on Saturday’s opponents, including speaking to Morecambe manager Jim Bentley. Wimbledon’s Interim Manager therefore has a fair idea of what the Dons will come up against on Saturday.
“It’s a big old ground with a big pitch,” said Simon. “The pitch is in good nick because I’ve spoken to a few people in the Conference about Halifax. They say that the pitch is in decent nick for this time of year. I watched three or four Halifax games yesterday, so I know that they have a big drum there and that gets banged regularly! My next-door neighbour will probably tell you that because it was coming out of my telly for most of the day! It will be a good atmosphere and I expect it to be a fast start from them with a vocal crowd getting behind them. We know what we’ve got to do to counteract that.
“When a League One team go to a lower down team that are out of the Football League at the moment it will generate a good atmosphere. I am sure their fans will come out and support the game. Early kick offs are always good. We expect a good atmosphere and we certainly expect a tough game. I’ve watched three or four of their games and I’ve spoken to Jim Bentley about them. They are a big side, well organised, hard-working, so we will touch upon all the things we know about them again in training tomorrow and we will be fully prepared for the game.
“All we can do is keep working hard, keep trying to improve performances, and hopefully results will follow off the back of that. We have an FA Cup game coming up, knockout football, and we are really looking forward to it. We expect a tough game, but it’s certainly one that we go into in good shape.”
The full interview with Simon is now available to watch on our iFollow channel and look out soon for an interview with captain Deji Oshilaja.