James Hanson: Dons fightback deserved a point against Portsmouth

BY MARK RITSON

James Hanson felt AFC Wimbledon deserved a point out of Saturday’s clash with Portsmouth, following an impressive second-half display at Kingsmeadow.

Hanson gave the hosts a lifeline with his first goal for the club with a stunning effort from outside the box.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the first half,” the striker told the South London Press. “Our goalkeeper kept us in the game, because we could have been four or five-nil down at half-time.

“We hadn’t listened to what the gaffer had wanted us to do for whatever reason, but in the second half he told us to just go and have a go – show that Wimbledon spirit the fans want to see.

“The message was clear at half-time – stick it up to me as early as possible. Everything was a lot clearer for us.

“At the end we deserved a point out of the game, so we can go away frustrated again but we need to work hard on the training ground this week because we’re the only ones that can turn it around.

“We can be confident that if we perform like we did in the second half from the start then we should be fine.”

IMAGE BY PAUL EDWARDS