AFC Wimbledon boss admits he asked ‘really demanding’ job from striker in back-to-back League Two outings

Johnnie Jackson admitted he asked a lot of Joe Pigott to play back-to-back League Two outings in quick succession.

The 30-year-old Leyton Orient loanee played the full 90 minutes and scored in the 3-1 win at Barrow on Saturday, coming into the starting line-up for the first time since the 1-0 defeat at Salford.

Pigott replaced Omar Bugiel, who was away on international duty with Lebanon.

The former Ipswich and Portsmouth striker then started 2-2 draw with Accrington at Plough Lane on Tuesday night but gave away the ball on a counter-attack in his own half for Nelson Khumbeni’s opener.

He then lost possession for Accrington’s second of the evening as Dara Costelloe beat Ryan Johnson to score past Owen Goodman.

Alistair Smith and James Tilley scored late on to rescue a point for the Dons.

“That is exactly what they’re good at,” said Jackson.

“They counter-press well and win it – they then break on you. We’re a toenail away from countering on them from a set-piece.

“They won the tackle and the kid [Khumbeni] puts it in the top corner. 

“It’s the same again for the second. We’re a toe away from getting away another passing to creating an attack against them, and then they go and counter.

“Joe has come in and it’s physically really demanding that I have asked him to play two 90 minutes in three days when he hasn’t really been playing.

“It’s understandable that he wasn’t quite as sharp tonight as he was on Saturday.

“He was a part of a really top away performance on Saturday, and he was part of a team that got a hard-earned draw today. 

“Four points from the two isn’t bad at all.”

PICTURE: KYLE ANDREWS