Lack of personality on the ball was big disappointment to AFC Wimbledon head coach
Mark Robinson was disappointed with AFC Wimbledon’s second-half display in their 1-0 loss to League One leaders Rotherham United – and highlighted a lack of “personality” on the ball from his side.
Rotherham opened the scoring in the 60th minute when substitute Joshua Kayode turned Cheidozoe Ogbene’s cross past Nik Tzanev.
Wimbledon only managed one shot on target in the 90 minutes at Plough Lane – Sam Cosgrove trying his luck from distance six minutes into the game.
Wimbledon only managed two touches in Rotherham’s penalty area in the second half.
“We were okay in the first half – apart from set-pieces, they didn’t really offer a threat,” said the Dons head coach.
“We just wanted to be better on the ball in the second half and carry more of a threat ourselves, but we didn’t do that.
“You have got to have personality on the ball and off the ball, and I just didn’t think we had any personality on the ball to hurt them.
“They’re a very good side – they get at you. When they do that, you have got to have players who want the ball, are happy to receive the ball and stretch them.
“We did that a couple of times in the first half, but it just never happened in the second half. It was disappointing.”
Speaking on the only goal of the contest, Robinson added: “I will need to see the goal again. I believe we have got caught out of shape, and they have played around us too easily, which didn’t happen in the first half.
“The second half wasn’t good enough – they opened us up too much.”
Wimbledon are without a win in their last 10 League One outings.
When asked what the mood in the squad is and whether the players were low on confidence, Robinson said: “We have got to work our way out of it.
“They are disappointed tonight because we haven’t offered a threat.
“We said that where we finish the season won’t be defined on the 90 minutes from tonight because they are where they are. It was all about trying to match them physically, which I thought we did for the most part, and then trying to implement ourselves and have a benchmark to work off.
“But, on the ball, we didn’t do that.”
PICTURES: LUCY DIXON
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