Lee Brown is as straight talking a player as you’re likely to find in football nowadays – and he certainly has his finger on the pulse as he closes in on a return to action.
Our left-back hasn’t featured for the Dons since we drew 1-1 at home to Crewe Alexandra back in October, but is now chomping at the bit to get back on the pitch in order to be part of our strong run of form.
Here Browny discusses his recovery, our performances, competition for places, expectations and why he feels our current management are the perfect fit for Wimbledon.
Where are you up to with your recovery from injury?
It’s into the final stages. I think I’m about a week away. It’s long overdue, it’s been very frustrating.
What’s impressed you most about our performances over the past month or so?
The squad as a whole is in a really good place. Confidence is sky high at the moment. We’ve found a way of winning games and being hard to beat.
In January you’ll have been with us a year. How have you found your experience so far?
I’ve loved it. It’s gone very quickly. There was obvious disappointment after last season but this one is about showing what we’re really about.
Every area of the squad is competitive. Are you relishing the challenge of regaining your spot in the starting 11?
Competition for places is brilliant. No one has the right to play. We’re so together at the moment that it doesn’t matter whose playing and who isn’t. The players who aren’t playing at the moment are really supportive of the ones starting.
It’s a credit to everyone involved that it’s stayed that way because sometimes in football you can get a bit of bitterness and bad attitudes around the place that can affect things. If anything it’s the complete opposite here because everyone is so supportive.
You’ve played under many managers. What makes Johnnie Jackson a good fit for the club in your eyes?
He’s perfect for this football club. He’s a young and dynamic manager that is really starting to put his stamp on things. Both he and Terry (Skiverton) have been around football for a long time, they know how everything should work and they know what’s required to get us out of this league. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel.
We’re at the halfway stage of the campaign. What would you view as a successful season come May?
The main thing for this squad – which is predominately young – is not putting expectations and extra pressure on themselves. Let’s take it one game at a time and where it takes us is where it takes us. We’ve worked out what our mindset should be now. Sometimes you can get blindsided by thinking about promotion and you can lose track of what’s important, which is winning the next game.
As a group we probably put too much pressure on ourselves within the changing room when things weren’t going so well. When you get relegated everyone naturally thinks that you’ll cruise through the league below and fly straight back up but if you’ve been around football for a long time, you know that’s never the case.
Winning football matches consistently is hard. A lot of effort goes into just one football match. We didn’t deal with the expectations as well as we should have, but since we have realigned things have been great.
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