A chance finding of a chess board at the training ground has helped stoke the competitive fires from within for two Wimbledon team-mates.
“We found a little chess board, so we thought we’d give that a go!” said defender Nesta Guinness-Walker. “It put our minds to the test and I’m currently three-one up on Rudi. We need to get back on it!
“We found it to one side in the canteen and we became a little addicted to it,” replied midfielder Jack Rudoni. “We had the app on our phones! We downloaded it so that we could get better at it. That’s how competitive Nesta and me can be. You have to think three or four moves ahead.
“I think it’s needed,” said Nesta. “The quality that we have in the squad now is massive, competitiveness is going to be key. We push each other on.”
The pair were speaking ahead of today's match at Charlton Athletic. Both are edging towards a century of appearances for the Dons with a clear motivation to help achieve our best finish to a League One season since promotion.
“It’s a nice personal landmark to get 100 appearances for this club,” said Nesta. “But first and foremost, the team comes first because we feel we’re in a bit of a false position at the moment. With the quality we’ve got in the squad and the experience we’ve brought in we can put those two aspects together. Hopefully we can make a bit more history for the club and get the highest points finish we’ve had.”
Nesta and Rudi are both backing our new striker Sam Cosgrove to recapture the goalscoring form he showed during his time in Scotland with Aberdeen.
“Cos has slotted in well,” said Nesta. “To be fair, he’s hit the ground running. He’s in good shape for hitting that form. He’s been firing in training with his finishing, he’s looked strong, and even in the technical drills he’s looked good with his feet. It’ll be interesting come match day what he can produce.
“He’s only been here a few days and he's felt a part of it,” added Rudi. “It’s what we were looking for – a good striker who has done it previously. He’s proved he can do it in Scotland, so hopefully he can bring that form here.”
We’ll have a strong following in the away end at The Valley yet again this afternoon and that’s something both players fully appreciate.
Nesta said: “When you hear the numbers after the game that were there, you sit in the dressing room and think, 'surely that can’t be right?!' You might hear there’s seven hundred or so fans there, but it feels like two thousand! When we went to Wycombe, it felt like there were three thousand there for us.
“That just shows the commitment. We want them to keep supporting us and the wins will come – there’s no doubt about that. We believe that in the changing room and the support shows tha they believe it too. They can see the hard work that we’re putting in and the progress we’re making. It’s not ideal that the last win was at Accrington, but we believe in due course the next victory will come.
“The celebration for the second goal at Wycombe is one of my best memories so far,” said Rudi. “It was unbelievable, and you could hear them from the first minute.”
Listen to our extended interview with Nesta Guinness-Walker and Jack Rudoni below, via our official YouTube channel.