Johnnie Jackson was delighted with the impact that substitute Ayoub Assal made after the forward drove his side to a 2-0 victory against Farnborough yesterday evening.
Assal was brought on as a centre-forward by the gaffer and made an almost immediate impact as he put the Dons 1-0 up following good build-up play from Chris Gunter and Dylan Adjei-Hersey.
The attacker would also go on to play an important part in the second goal as he won the penalty which was then converted by a trialist – with his performance earning special praise from Johnnie.
“He made the difference. I thought he was very bright when he came on,” said our manager. “You know what you’re going to get with Ayoub. You get that enthusiasm, that energy, that pace and he really affected the game when he came on. It’s a different role for him up front but I thought he made some excellent runs.”
Another player who also impressed after coming on was Adeji-Hersey, with the winger turned wing-back showcasing his versatility to great effect in recent games.
“He’s capable of playing in a number of positions. He’s very attacking – which is obviously what I want from my wing-backs,” said Johnnie. “It can be really attacking when you start with that formation and he slid in nicely to that.”
Overall our manager was pleased to see his side get back to winning ways after they put Saturday’s loss to Eastbourne Borough firmly into the back of their minds.
Johnnie was also keen to look ahead to this weekend’s game against Ipswich Town at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, as we prepare to play in front of our home support for the first time in this pre-season campaign.
“I’m very pleased to get another win. It was an improved performance after the weekend. We’re starting to see more of the stuff that we’re trying to implement in training.
“I’m really looking forward to the weekend. It’ll be a great game. The pitch is looking fantastic and hopefully quite a few fans will turn out to see us.”
PIC: Lucy Dixon