Head coach Mark Robinson excited by potential of AFC Wimbledon
BY DANIEL MARSH
AFC Wimbledon head coach Mark Robinson has hailed the “potential” of his side after their recent turnaround in form – and admitted that he is “enjoying every second” of his time in charge.
Robinson took the reins at the beginning of February, and has slowly but surely steered the Dons in the right direction. The most recent run of form, however, has seen Wimbledon motoring towards safety after recording four consecutive league wins – a feat they last achieved back in April 2016.
When asked about the turnaround in fortune, the Dons boss explained: “We weren’t losing – we lost two games over Easter where we were the better side, and the stats back up the equivalent of what we’re doing now. We were 12th in the form guide over that period before this run. We’ve just worked hard on continually adding that next step.
“I think that we possibly didn’t play forward quick enough. We were having more possession but didn’t carry as much threat as we possibly could. I keep saying it, but the key thing when we came together as a group, was that we [had to] become hard to beat. We hadn’t won in 11 games and our goal difference was minus 20. So you’re not going to turn that into a team that’s going to win every week. The first thing we had to do was to become hard to beat. I felt we did that, the games that we lost were by the odd goal. Then obviously you search for the next bit and the next bit whilst remaining hard to beat.
“That’s what’s happened really, we’ve worked hard to find that extra bit, but again nothing’s secured. If you don’t keep working hard then it gets taken away from you, so we’ve got to keep striving to be the side that we want to be.
“I’m hoping that everyone can see the potential of the team. They’re absolutely fantastic to work with – I’m enjoying every second and I have done since the word go. I think if you look back in interviews, even when results weren’t quite going our way, I’m still enjoying every second working with them. They’re buying into everything we’re doing and I really hope their potential is being recognised.”
Robinson also reserved special praise for Alex Woodyard and Ollie Palmer. The Wimbledon skipper picked the perfect time to net his first goal for the club after being teed up by Palmer, who left the field late in the second half favouring his rib.
“[Woodyard’s] been absolutely outstanding. The last four or five games, longer than that actually, he’s been outstanding and he thoroughly deserves that. You can see how much he enjoyed it and how popular he is with the players. It was a great finish, so I’m really chuffed for him.
“Ollie’s gone into spasm – he’s fine. He’s been great. Having him fit and being able to play him has definitely been a benefit. That’s certainly no disrespect to Ryan Longman, who’s done excellently as well. I thought he was outstanding when he came on and could have put the game to bed. Ollie’s given us that little bit of a different dimension and I think people are seeing what a really good footballer he is – he’s probably a very different player to what a lot of people thought.”
Pic: Keith Gillard