Johnnie Jackson maintains our target must be promotion back to Sky Bet League One, regardless of whether it happens this season or in the next.
Our manager was speaking in the wake of seeing the Dons lose out 3-2 at Swindon Town, a game where we could have quite easily been walking away with something to show for our efforts.
An early Joe Lewis header seemed to be pushing us in the right direction before the hosts fought back to go 3-1 ahead in the second-half, with a second goal for our aforementioned centre-back in stoppage time setting up a grandstand finish.
Despite throwing everything at getting an equaliser, Wimbledon came up short and will undoubtedly be rueing the manner the goals we conceded.
The unpredictability of League Two means we are still three points off the play-offs, but with so many other teams in the mix, a lot will have to fall in our favour over the next two game weeks if we are to sneak into the top seven.
Here Johnnie provides his assessment of today’s game and offers an insight into his thinking for the long-term future of the Club.
ON THE PERFORMANCE…
It’s hard to take because I don’t feel that they were the better team. We were in the ascendency for the majority of the game and had the best moments. We had to get a win today. We tried to do that and that’s probably cost us because the game became chaotic. It all came from us letting them off the hook and giving them a really soft goal for the equaliser.
The boys threw everything at it in the final moments and if we had an extra five minutes we probably would’ve got another goal as Swindon were hanging on.
We had loads of great moments but the quality of our final ball at times was lacking. We chose the wrong option too many times, which is the most frustrating thing. The quality has let us down in the last little bit.
ON THE FINAL TWO GAMES…
There’s two games and madly, there’s still something resting on them. If we can get to 68 points, that asks questions of other teams. There’s still a lot to play for and that will help with our preparations for Tranmere. I’ve told the players that they have two games to show they want to be a part of what we’re doing.
If we miss out this season, we need to be putting together a squad that is capable of mixing it with the teams vying for automatic promotion spots and play-off places. With that in mind, the players have got to be on it every game.
We’ve progressed the football club hugely this season but we want to get promoted and get this club back to League One. If it doesn’t happen this season, it has to happen next season. We’ve got a good group of lads who give everything but sometimes that isn’t enough.
PICS: Stephen Flynn (Pro Sports Images)
