AFC Wimbledon boss explains key striker’s absence from Grimsby draw

AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson said star striker Omar Bugiel missed Tuesday night’s goalless draw with Grimsby after tweaking his groin in the warm-up.

Bugiel was named in the starting line-up after playing 90 minutes in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Milton Keynes.

The former Forest Green striker – who joined in the summer on a free transfer from Sutton – has made 39 appearances in all competitions this season.

He was replaced by Ronan Curtis, who scored the last-gasp winner over Milton Keynes last time out.

Alex Pearce came into the matchday squad.

“He felt his groin in the warm-up,” said Jackson.

“We don’t know the extent of it – hopefully not too bad.

“It’s too early to say.

“We will have to look at it him tomorrow or Thursday. We will maybe get a scan on Thursday and go from there.

“He just tweaked it. It was a setback because he’s key to what we do.

“You saw on Saturday [against Milton Keynes], he got Man of the Match. He is an important part of what we play and what we want to do.

“The attributes that he has got, we probably can’t quite replicate.

“The stuff that we worked on yesterday, we had to change a little bit and it affects you. 

“We didn’t get too much of a rhythm to what we were doing today.”