‘Fallen short’ – Dons boss says players failed to rise to challenge in Rochdale defeat

BY DAN EVANS

Johnnie Jackson has insisted AFC Wimbledon do not want the rest of the season to “fizzle out” after their 1-0 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Rochdale.

The Dons beat Walsall 2-0 on Tuesday evening at Plough Lane but missed the chance to earn consecutive league wins in front of their fans for just a second time this season.

Danny Lloyd’s second-half strike gave the visitors all three points and saw Rochdale pick up their first League Two win in 13 outings.

The Dons are 16th in the table and 11 points clear of the bottom two.

“There are lessons learned today,” said the former Charlton boss.  “If you want to be a consistent team, or you want to be a top player, then you’ve got to have consistent levels of performance. 

“I asked the boys to be even better than on Tuesday, but we’ve fallen short on that challenge today. 

“When you’re trying to build a team that can challenge every week, you need lads that are up to the task.” 

With six games of the League Two season remaining, Jackson is keen to ensure the campaign does not end with a whimper. 

“We don’t want to let the season fizzle out,” said Jackson.

“We want to be positive. Today was a chance to get back-to-back wins, so we need to dust ourselves down and approach the next one. 

“What normally happens is we’ll get a response now from the lads. They’ll want to put this right. I know that they’ll be hurting about this one.” 

PICTURES: LUCY DIXON