AFC Wimbledon won’t make ‘rash decision’ as they look for striker signing before transfer window closes

Mark Robinson says that AFC Wimbledon will not make a “rash decision” with any possible replacement for Ollie Palmer after he completed his move to National League side Wrexham.

The Dons have already completed the loan signings of striker Terry Ablade from Fulham and winger Tomas Kalinauskas from Barnsley for the rest of the season.

Robinson told our paper after the 0-0 draw with Portsmouth that Wimbledon’s transfer business was done.

However, after losing top goalscorer Palmer, who scored his eighth of the season in the 1-1 draw with Burton last Saturday, the Dons will be forced to find a replacement.

Palmer, 30, joined Wrexham on a three-and-a-half-year contract for a fee of £300,000.

When asked about the thought process behind finding a replacement for Palmer, Robinson told the South London Press: “We can’t make rash decisions, and that’s the difference between most football clubs and us – we can’t afford to make rash decisions. There is only so much out there.

“The panel are looking, contacting various clubs, and players get crossed off because of various reasons.

“We have to be thorough with every decision we make. So if it’s an older and more experienced player, we need to know that it’s worth it for the club.

“Whereas if he is slightly younger, we need to know that there is going to be an upside to the signing if we get the development right.

“So far, despite our league position, we have got a team full of players developing and getting interest. We don’t want to be selling players all the time, but the development side of the club is working really well.

“We have got to make sure that the next signing is a positive for us, and at the same time, myself, the coaching staff, and the players, have to work together to make sure that we get back to winning ways and scoring goals.”

Speaking on whether the Dons would look to replace Palmer with a player who boasts similar attributes to what he brought to the side, Robinson explained: “There are very few players such as Ollie around in football – someone who has that physical presence but is also good on the floor.

“If those types of players are out there, of course, you will look at them. But if there are those kinds of players out there doing what Ollie has done and more, it’s unlikely that they are coming to us – they are already somewhere else.

“We just have to look at all options and look within our style of play. The key thing is that we get someone who can contribute to the team with what we want to do, but also bring their fair share of goals.”

Speaking about possible concerns fans had surrounding Palmer’s departure, Robinson added: “We will find solutions.

“When we lost Joe Pigott in the summer, the fans were really concerned about that and where the goals were going to come from.

“I said that I was confident that we could find goals from everywhere, and we did that. It seems a long time back now, but after seven or eight games, we were the top goalscorers in the country and we have had 13 different players score goals.

“I realised that it has dried up a little bit recently, but that dried up with Ollie in the side, and that’s just been the nature of our run after the three-week break.

“We have also consolidated at the back. I know we haven’t been scoring freely, but we have only conceded two in our last four games, and one of those was with 10 men.

“The recruitment panel are looking for a replacement as well, but we will work in different ways. We have lost one element of our game, but we will look at other elements where we can get that free-flowing goalscoring football back.”