AFC Wimbledon boss sets points target for League One survival
By Richard Cawley
Neal Ardley reckons 52 points will be enough to secure League One safety this season.
AFC Wimbledon are 19th in the table and face Oxford, three places higher, at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Saturday.
“I think 52 points will be enough,” said the Dons manager. “The likes of Fleetwood, Northampton and ourselves are in the scrap and you need 1.2 or 1.3 points per game. We’re all capable of getting to it.”
Wimbledon finished 15th in their first campaign at this level and collected 57 points.
But their budget is the fourth lowest in the division. Ardley, when asked about that, said: “The league wasn’t great last year, let’s not kid ourselves. We were 19th in the budget and overachieved.
“You can’t keep having miracle seasons every year. I saw an article by Darren Ferguson [Doncaster Rovers manager] the other day saying he can’t believe how tough the league is and that it will keep getting stronger.
“That is what we’re up against, so with a bottom-four budget you can’t not expect a relegation fight with 10 games to go.
“We’re all disappointed and aim higher but you can’t go every year expecting to be top-10. If you do finish in the top-half then brilliant.”
Wimbledon have begun work on a return to Plough Lane.
And while that will boost their spending power to a degree, Ardley added: “The way football is going, the concern is that even League One clubs are getting bought by foreign owners – Northampton and Peterborough. The investment coming from abroad is massive.
“The board have done brilliantly to find 10 per cent more than last season but in the budget table we have moved down two places. Sometimes you have to find more money just to stand still or not go backwards too much.
“I never joined Wimbledon expecting to be the biggest club in the league. Someone has got to be down there and that is a challenge in itself. It doesn’t bother me, but there is a realism that goes with it.
“I’m giving everything I can – I’m up for the battle. The players will be up for it. These last 13 matches are going to be tense affairs.”
Centre-backs Darius Charles (hip) and Will Nightingale (knee) have trained in the first part of the week and should be back in contention for tomorrow’s home game against Oxford United.
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