Dons head coach Mark Robinson: I’ve no doubt in my managerial abilities

AFC Wimbledon head coach Mark Robinson says he “doesn’t doubt” his own abilities despite the club being on a 20-game winless run in all competitions.

The Dons dropped into the bottom four of League One last weekend for the first time this season after losing 3-1 at mid-table Cheltenham Town.

Wimbledon took the lead in the 26th minute through Jack Rudoni, but three goals in the final 10 minutes in Gloucestershire gave the hosts all three points and condemned the Dons to their fourth defeat in a row.

“It’s tough – it’s difficult,” admitted Robinson when asked whether he had questioned his own future in the role. “The form is not acceptable – you would be a fool not to realise that it isn’t.

“But when the squad was assembled at the start of the season, if someone had told me that we would have sold Ollie Palmer, we would have lost Aaron Pressley through injury, Will Nightingale and Ben Heneghan would be out for a number of games, and we would lose Alex Woodyard for eight games and Henry Lawrence for 10 games, I would have said: ‘Wow, that sounds tough.’

“With our resources, those losses obviously would have left a huge void in our squad.

“I don’t doubt my abilities. When I had a full squad, we were exciting and capable of winning games, but the adversity has derailed our campaign.

“I maintain in previous years that, when certain players have kept us up – whether that be a goalkeeper or centre-forward – if we had experienced the same amount of adversity that we have had this year, we would have been down well before now.

“We have still remained competitive despite this awful run, and it’s not where we want to be.

“There are still massive positives from this season.

“With Ayoub [Assal] getting called up to train with England [U20s], that has huge ramifications on the club as a whole. I have had to fight to keep players in the academy in the past, but now they can see that there is that pathway from Wimbledon to the national team.

“In terms of the style of play, when we’re good, we’re good. I know that we’re respected. Speaking to managers and teams, I know they actually have to prepare for us and think about what we’re going to do.

“This club is in a much healthier position than we have ever been.”

Wimbledon take on Cambridge United tomorrow but are set to be without Assal, Dan Csoka, Tomas Kalinauskas and Terry Ablade through international duty. Luke McCormick (ankle) will be out for a number of weeks.

“My job right now is to ignore all of that – it is what it is,” added Robinson.

“I have got players who need their confidence building or improving, which has got to be my focus. We’re working really hard to achieve that.

“The club decided to go with a new model and a five-year plan for the future. You’re seeing the benefits of that already – Ollie Palmer was sold for our highest transfer fee, and we have young players gaining international recognition throughout the squad.

“I know we can coach and develop players – we have done it for years. I have taken players out of Sunday League football and given them professional careers.

“When we took over a team that was really poor last year, we turned them into a football team, and we played our way out of trouble.

“I have got to look at myself all the time to make sure that we’re not doing the same things. I know we can do it, and it’s a massive boost to know that the club are fully behind what we’re trying to build.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD