Jack Rudoni has made good progress after missing Wimbledon’s last two games and he’s expected to return for the Carabao Cup match at Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The attacking midfielder has shaken off a muscle injury and he trained with the squad today, along with Ollie Palmer, who is also aiming to be involved after a calf injury.
Robbo reported: “Ollie has trained, so I just have to check on him, and see how he feels. Rudi has trained, and as far as I know he has come through it with no problems at all. That’s exciting, but it’s just a shame we haven’t got PK and Paul Osew as they are players that did brilliantly in the two previous rounds. It’s a shame for them, but Paul Osew is not too far away now.”
On selecting a side to take on the Gunners in the third round of the competition, Robbo added: “I have got some tough decisions to make. In the Carabao Cup we’ve rotated quite a bit and players have got us to where we are. There has also been a bit of rotation in the league, and our performances have been really high. We’ve got a really busy schedule coming up with two away games on the spin at Shrewsbury and Rotherham. We will be picking a side that we believe can go and get a result, but at the same time we have to look at what we have coming up as well.”
Our match at the Emirates Stadium will be the first time we’ve visited a Premier League club for a competitive game since January 2018 when the Dons faced Spurs in the FA Cup – and it’s the type of occasion Robbo wants more of in the future.
“That’s the plan! I can only see that coming if we continue to build our identity, and continue to get the fans to buy into what we are doing, and to build that attachment. We have to keep doing that on the pitch, and that was what was so pleasing on Saturday. Despite it not being a win on the pitch, it didn’t feel like that. I came out of the ground, and the fans were so great to me because they can see that the players are giving it everything. They seem genuinely excited.
“Woody called me after the Man of the Match presentation and he said, ‘I can’t believe what the fans were like!’ It was like we had won. That only happens because the fans can see the effort that the players are putting in, and they are seeing the football we are trying to play. We want it to be exciting. Obviously, we can’t lose too many, but I’m a big believer that if you build that attachment, and you will get a certain amount of empathy if they see that you are giving it absolutely everything.”
Click on the link below to listen to Robbo’s full interview ahead of the game.