Gaffer looks ahead to Dons game
Town boss Paul Hurst believes it’s time for the whole squad to step up when they take on AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
Town will be without four key figures – Dean Henderson, James Bolton, Ben Godfrey and Abu Ogogo – on Saturday for a variety of reasons and Hurst thinks it’s important that other players step up to the plate.
“I think we are down to probably our last 18 players, so the matchday squad will pretty much pick itself and we want to give the best account of ourselves that we can.
“We’ve still got some very good players. The players showed a great reaction after Abs got sent-off the other night and we will need to do the same again if we are to get some results in his absence.”
AFC Wimbledon are having a difficult season and currently sit just two points about the relegation zone, but Paul expects them to be tricky opponents.
“I think they’ve changed system a little bit of late, so it’s not the easiest one to plan for”, Hurst said.
“I think they are on a similar par to ourselves in terms of resources available to them financially, so I think Neal Ardley’s done a good job there, but they will still want some more points to make sure that they have another season in League One.
“The line-up’s changed quite a lot there because of injuries, so I’m not entirely sure of how they will set-up or who the personnel will be, so we’ve got to concentrate on that, but the players will be aware of people like Lyle Taylor in their side, who is a threat.”
Tuesday night showed that Town have to be wary of teams near the bottom of League One and Paul believes Saturday’s game is no exception.
“I think every game is difficult”, said Hurst.
“We might play a mid-table team and they might play with absolute freedom thinking that the shackles are off and that they can really express themselves, so it’s always going to be difficult no matter who you are playing against.
“I think that as you move towards the end of the season more results that are unexpected occur. The other night we obviously wanted to win the game but performance wise I was pleased enough and going into Saturday, we might not be as fluent, but I still think we are capable of getting that result.”