Dons boss Robinson: We were dominant in second half, are doing everything right and are optimistic – but we need to improve finishing
By KAI BENNETT
AFC Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson believes his side were ‘dominant’ in the second half and says his players have full belief they can stay up.
Sam Woods scored the only goal of the game as Plymouth Argyle beat the Dons 1-0 at Home Park on Saturday afternoon.
The result keeps the Dons in the relegation zone and one point behind Swindon Town in 20h position in Sky Bet League One.
Robinson told AFC Wimbledon’s club website: “In the first half, the goal isn’t good enough.
“I try not to be emotional because it leads to making knee-jerk decisions and not reflecting properly. But at the moment it’s hard not to feel emotional after dominating the second half and not putting the ball in the back of the net. But if it’s 0-0 and you put in that performance, the second half would be very different.
“They caused us too many problems out wide in the first half. They’ve got some good players but I thought we rectified that in the second half – we changed things a little bit, changed our shape a little bit and as you saw, it was one-way traffic and they couldn’t offer any solutions to what we were doing. But we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“In the first half we sat off. There was one time in the first half where we went aggressively as a group and we won it high up the pitch but we didn’t do enough of that in the first half.”
Dons boss Robinson believes the only thing his side need to do improve is their finishing.
“The opposition are going to have chances, but we’ve got a solid base now and they didn’t have a shot second half,” he said. “Since the last game against Northampton Town, we’ve done a bit of shape work but it’s all been about the final third and finishing.
“Sometimes you think the more you talk about something – because we know we have to score more goals – does it become a mental block? We’ve created so many chances and clear chances. We didn’t relax enough. We were snatching at them, so we have to just keep doing the right things. But if we create that many chances we have to believe we are going to start taking them.
“We were so dominant, I can’t remember when we’ve travelled away and been that dominant. In the last five minutes I wasn’t pleased because, although I was happy we were carving out chances, as the clock is ticking down you have got to be a little bit more direct – because they were sitting in their shape so there wasn’t much space. We were a bit naive.
“As the clock ticks down, they got deeper and I brought Ollie on. We needed to pick up second balls and cause more chaos. When we got into some good areas, the crossing wasn’t good enough and that’s what it’s all about, that detail.”
Robinson believes his players will lift themselves and have full belief they will stay up.
“The spirits great,” he said. “They fully believe we are going to stay up, so it’s not about lifting them – they’re fantastic lads. No one is walking around during the week moping or worried – it’s just about coming up with solutions.”
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