Mark Robinson has called on Wimbledon’s young talents to repeat today’s encouraging second-half display on a regular basis.
A 1-1 draw against a Chelsea XI was achieved with an impressive performance after the break and Mark knows it’s a vital time in their development with several due to go out on loan.
“Whether it’s an Under-23s game or a friendly we need to make sure we do what is required, so that if these players get the chance to step-up to the first-team it’s just a natural progression. We started the game brightly, but in the first-half there were a few things we were not happy with. We didn’t do enough of what we want our players to do in any kind of game. There wasn’t enough traits of what the first-team do, we didn’t have enough purpose, and it led to us being passive, and them taking control for the last 20 minutes of the first-half.
“We changed it in the second-half. We needed to do more of what we do and not what they wanted us to do. We did that and the second-half was good. We definitely had more chances and the boys will feel disappointed that they didn’t win the game.”
Archie Procter’s display at the back caught the eye against Chelsea and Mark was full of praise for a young defender who made his first-team debut recently.
“That was Archie’s first 90 minutes of the season and I thought he was really good defensively. In the last 15 minutes he was struggling because he was tired, but he played on the right side, which was good for him as well. It was good that he got his first 90 minutes in before he starts his loan at Carshalton. For a lot of the young lads now, their loans will be happening in the next week, so it was really good for them to get 60-70 minutes. Elliott (Bolton) and David (Fisher) also came on for the last 15 minutes and they did really well.
“Chelsea had some experience, and Lewis Bate, who came on in the Premier League, is a talented player, but once we started showing what we are about it asked questions of them. If you ask questions of people they are likely to make mistakes as well. The energy we showed in the second-half was really pleasing.”
You can see Mark Robinson's full post-match reaction, after the draw at Chelsea's training ground, via the link below to our official YouTube channel.