Dons boss focuses on positives after 0-0 draw against Portsmouth

Mark Robinson saw the positives after AFC Wimbledon held play-off chasing Portsmouth to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday night.

The Dons flew out of the blocks and had the better chances but were left indebted to Nik Tzanev for some top saves in the second half.

A point and results elsewhere leave Wimbledon three points above Morecambe in the relegation zone with two games in hand still to play.

Wimbledon’s second 0-0 draw inside a week means it’s now five games since the Dons last scored – but Robinson is adamant that the goals will start flowing again soon for his side.

“It fizzled out a little bit,” said Wimbledon head coach Robinson. “Both sides did, to be honest. But again, like Saturday, loads of positives.

“The one thing in football is if you don’t concede, you won’t lose, so two clean sheets is a positive.

“We know we’ve got to get the goals. Tonight we weren’t great on the ball at times. We’re really good when we’re in transition and we showed that in the first half. But there were too many times where we turned the ball over too quickly when we could have broke on them.

“But I’ve also got to say that we’ve been brought down five times on transition; that seems to happen a lot to us, but nothing seems to go right.

“It’s just that little bit of decision-making in the final third, but I’m confident that’s going to come and then the goals will too.”

The Dons recorded their second consecutive shutout without Ben Heneghan, who missed the clash with Pompey after contracting Covid-19.

Robinson was full of praise for Dan Csoka after the defender played his part in an impressive defensive display.

“We had no Ben tonight and Dan’s come in and done really, really well,” added the Dons boss. “Clean sheets are important, but we don’t want to lose that attacking threat.

“I don’t feel like we have though – I don’t feel as though we look like a team that isn’t going to score. But I feel like tonight our detail was off a little bit.

“We’re really confident that the goals are going to come. I don’t think tonight you’d look at one team and think they’re eighth and the other 20th. We know we’re not that side, so we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll start climbing up the table.

“The Morecambe manager on Saturday was kind enough to say that he thought we were in a false position, and I honestly think we are.

“Apart from the little bit after the Christmas period where we looked way off it, all season we’ve been very, very competitive.

“There’s still 66 points to play for and that’s what we’ve got to focus on. One day at a time, one game at a time. Two or three wins and all of a sudden, these kinds of nerves become a distant memory.

“Once we get clear, which we will, then the confidence will just flow and we’ll play with even more rhythm.”

PICTURES: LUCY DIXON