AFC Wimbledon boss Robbo: This isn’t my toughest period

BY EDMUND BRACK

Mark Robinson doesn’t believe that this is his most difficult time since being named AFC Wimbledon head coach.

The Dons find themselves two points above the relegation zone after Tuesday’s 1-0 loss against Milton Keynes, but Robinson’s side have two games in hand over teams around them at the bottom of the League One table.

The South Londoners have lost three on the spin against Oxford, Boreham Wood in the FA Cup and Milton Keynes on Tuesday, since having an enforced break due to fixtures against Portsmouth and Charlton being postponed due to Covid-19 cases in the opposition camps.

When asked by the South London Press if he saw this period as his most challenging time at the helm of the Plough Lane-based side, Robinson said: “No, not at all.

“The most difficult time that I had as a manager was when I got the job, and we had lost nine, drawn two, conceded over 30 goals, and we were in the relegation zone.

“That was a difficult time when you have got to take over a job, implement new ideas, implement a new style of play and try to change the culture.

“This isn’t a difficult time. If you look at the last six games, we have won two, drawn two and lost two, which, if you carried that form on, you would be comfortably mid-table.

“If you look at those six games which we played, three of them were away from home against sides in the play-off positions, and one of them was a game where we hadn’t played for three weeks.

“It’s just key that we take it a day a time and a game at a time and know that the wins will come, which they will.

“I am a big believer that in situations, you will get noise from outside that makes things feel as though you’re in a situation that you’re not.”

If the Dons were able to win both of their games in hand, they would climb up to 13th in the League One table and find themselves eight points away from the relegation zone.

“I was talking to the lads the other morning and saying exactly that,” added Robinson.

“When you feel as though you’re in a situation that you’re not, you just look at the facts, and they’re the facts – won two, drawn two, lost two, up against some difficult opposition, and we’re 30 seconds from beating Wycombe away.

“Once you get the facts clear, everything else becomes irrelevant, and you go back to how you continue to improve.”