AFC Wimbledon have gone from toothless to ruthless – as they find relentless edge to their play

BY DANIEL MARSH

Relentless. It’s the one soundbite which has remained a constant throughout Mark Robinson’s short tenure as AFC Wimbledon head coach.

Shortly after his appointment, Robinson revealed that relentless was a word which had been used to describe himself – but now that word can be used to describe the team he’s whipped into shape too.

The way Wimbledon brushed aside Accrington Stanley and Ipswich Town last week, netting eight goals in the process? Relentless.

The fashion that the Dons blew away the Robins with a rampant first-half display? Relentless.

It’s now three league wins in a row, and that nine-point tally has thrust Wimbledon to the cusp of League One survival at the end of a pivotal week.

That seemed a long way off when Robinson was handed the reins back in February with the Dons in freefall. An 11-game winless run had seen them slump to the bottom end of the table, with their best-ever start to a League One season months earlier feeling like a distant memory.

It’s now just five defeats from the 16 games which Robinson has overseen, including six wins – a marked improvement. It’s more than that though – the fingerprints of Robinson have been slowly growing over this side in recent weeks.

The manner in which Wimbledon have swept away Accrington, Ipswich and Swindon over the past week will be the thing that has pleased Robinson the most – especially as goals have probably been just about the only thing missing from some of those performances earlier in his reign.

It feels like a recurring theme of Wimbledon’s season, even before Robinson took charge, has been not getting the goals to secure the result performances have warranted. But the turnaround in front of goal over the past week has been nothing short of remarkable.

The Dons have evolved from toothless to ruthless, netting a stunning 12 goals in three games – they’d only notched 12 strikes in their previous 16 games ahead of this week.

The Dons’ fourth goal against the Robins was the perfect example of just how far this team has come over the past few weeks – a slick attacking move on the transition with a textbook finish.

Ayoub Assal has come into the spotlight after his storming start to life in senior football. Before the Swindon clash, he’d netted an impressive three goals in nine games. Even Robinson admitted after the Ipswich game that the goal threat the youngster carries has “come as a little bit of a surprise”.

He could have doubled that tally against the Robins. He hit the woodwork twice, either side of his poacher’s goal to effectively kill the game. He teed up Pigott for his second goal too after the break to sum up yet another impressive afternoon.

Assal tormented Swindon’s backline throughout, weaving his magic from the flanks. His influence on this team is growing week by week, with performances that defy his tender years.

It’s no coincidence that Robinson’s side have started motoring since the Moroccan teenager’s breakthrough. The decision to deploy Assal and a rejuvenated Ollie Palmer in support of Pigott has proved to be a masterstroke.

Palmer too was at the heart of everything that was good about the Dons attacking play. His touch that enabled Assal to tee up Pigott was delightful, and was the cherry on top of a display filled with deceptive pace and power, constantly harrying a fragile Swindon rearguard.

Pigott’s contribution in a Dons shirt has been exceptional since his arrival at the club. He notched his 50th and 51st goals in yellow and blue in this mauling – taking his tally to 19 league goals in what looks set to be his final season with the club.

The additional support around him has paid dividends recently, but regardless of the emergence of Assal and Palmer’s resurgence, Wimbledon will certainly feel the void their star striker will leave if he departs in the summer.

He was brought in just months before the departure of the Dons’ last star striker, Lyle Taylor. Perhaps January recruits Shayon Harrison or Corie Andrews can parallel that tale and fill his boots next term.

Tyler Smith’s late strike was nothing more than a consolation – but a few months back, even with a three-goal cushion, that may not have been the case. The goals are finally flowing, but a shaky backline which has been plagued by mistakes all season now seems more stable.

Wimbledon have never won four in a row at this level. It’s a feat they last managed back in April 2016 on their march to promotion at Wembley. But if they can topple Oxford on Tuesday night, then it would take a brave man to bet against them playing League One football again next season.

If that is to be the case, then Robinson deserves a lot of credit. When he was given the job, he felt he was given the job “because [the club] feel that I can build something”.

The Dons have lurched from one survival fight to the next since they arrived in League One, but you get the impression that Robinson was appointed with a bigger picture in mind of avoiding that scenario repeating year on year – regardless of whether or not third tier status was initially retained.

If he can finish the job and guide Wimbledon over the line, it’s hard to see the relentless Robinson settling for that going forward.

STAR MAN
Ayoub Assal. A goal, an assist and denied twice by the crossbar. Absolutely tormented Swindon throughout.

BEST MOMENT
Joe Pigott’s second goal was a wonderful team break with Ollie Palmer and Ayoub Assal linking well before Pigott’s textbook finish.

Photos: Keith Gillard