AFC Wimbledon captain Jake Reeves: Automatic promotion race will go to the wire
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk AFC Wimbledon captain Jake Reeves expects the League Two automatic promotion race to go right to the wire because there is no outstanding side this season.
The Dons moved back up to fifth in the table on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Harrogate at Plough Lane with Alistair Smith’s 77th-minute goal the difference as Johnnie Jackson’s side ended a run of three straight games where they lost the lead.
The South Londoners were 2-0 up before drawing 2-2 against mid-table Barrow on March 22 and conceded twice in stoppage time to lose 2-1 at Swindon on April 1.
“It’s extremely frustrating, but this happens most seasons,” Reeves told the South London Press.
“I said to the boys when we played Barrow: ‘Don’t think this is easy based on the position of the league. If those boys can’t go down or up, most will be out of contracts and playing for one, whether at Barrow or elsewhere on a free transfer. They will play with no fear because they have nothing to play for, in terms of their finishing position’.
“Those games can be really tricky to navigate.
“I’ve seen it season after season where teams have been at the top, but when it comes to the last 10 or so games, it becomes difficult to make sure you can get all three points.
“It’s not just happened with us, it’s other teams as well who are struggling to get any form going.
“Nobody is blowing anyone anyway.”
Wimbledon’s run of just two wins in their 10 games before the Harrogate clash saw them drop to within four points of falling out of the play-off zone.
They had been second after their goalless draw at Fleetwood in mid-February.
Walsall were runaway league leaders and had a 12-point gap to second place in January but have dropped to third, losing top spot for the first time in four months, after their 3-2 defeat to promotion rivals Port Vale on Saturday.
Jackson’s side are five points off leaders Port Vale and four points away from the automatic spots.
“It’s difficult to put a number on what gets you over the line,” said Reeves. “From game to game, it changes. Teams are dropping points where you don’t expect them to, and it’s really tight up there.
“For the first time in a while, everybody has to play each other as well. It’s an interesting run.
“It’s a difficult league. Everyone is pretty close to each other in terms of how they play and how good they are – there is no standout squad you expect to go and win the league.
“It’s made it a lot more competitive compared to seasons gone by.
“That brings its own challenges and makes it more difficult because to stay in the top seven, everyone is doing similar things.
“It’s so tight all the way down to eighth. Everyone is capable of putting on a performance and winning against everyone.”
Reeves clocked up his 200th appearance for the Dons across three separate spells on Saturday.
He rejoined Wimbledon at the start of the 2023-24 season after six years away, spending time at Notts County and Stevenage after being sold to Bradford in July 2017 for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £150,000.
Reeves said: “It’s an incredible turn of events, leaving and then things have happened in my career which have led to me coming back.
“The club hasn’t been in great shape for the last few years. It was extremely frustrating to watch from afar.
“The club is built in such a fashion that when you play for it, you can’t help but hold an affiliation for it when you leave.
“We got the club into League One by working extremely hard. We stayed up relatively easily in that first season, so you hope the club can maintain that level and kick on. But they tried to go down a different avenue and the fact it didn’t work out was highly frustrating.”
Reeves played a crucial role in the 2015-16 League Two play-off winning campaign for the Dons, featuring 43 times as Neal Ardley’s side beat Plymouth at Wembley to reach League One.
So what would it mean to go up this season as captain?
Reeves said: “It’s nice to be able to come back and try to help the club get to where it wants to be – that was always my aim.
“When I came back, I said: ‘This club doesn’t deserve to be in League Two – it should be higher’.
“If I can manage that milestone then I would be extremely proud. “There would be an overriding feeling of joy to wear the armband and to take them up this time.
“I was a big part of it last time, but when you’re the skipper, it means a little bit more. Seeing all the photos of Barry Fuller from that year, it sticks in the memory of everyone.
“It would be nice to do it as captain.”
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD