Johnnie Jackson’s verdict on AFC Wimbledon’s goalless draw at Hartlepool
Johnnie Jackson praised his side’s defensive resilience during their 0-0 draw with Hartlepool United.
The Dons kicked off their League Two campaign with a 2-0 win against Gillingham, while Hartlepool were thrashed 4-0 by Walsall.
Wimbledon registered more shots on target than the hosts, but the Pools had more shots and possession.
They had goalkeeper Nik Tzanev to thank for leaving Victoria Park with a point after the New Zealander made two vital saves from close range in the second half.
The Dons have started their League Two campaign unbeaten and have yet to concede a goal under Jackson in a competitive outing.
“It’s a decent point on the road. It’s a tough place to come – it always is,” the Dons boss said.
“There were moments in the second half where it could have gone the other way
“We had better moments in the first half, but they had better moments in the second. I know from previous outings that it’s never easy to come here – they [Hartlepool] will pick up a number of points here.
“We can be pleased with it.
“We had to defend our box. They made it difficult for us by putting a lot of crosses into our area – we defended it really well.
“You have to do that away from home – you have to dig in.
“It wasn’t vintage [from] us, we can do a lot of things better. We’re still a work in progress – we will improve, but we’re showing a lot of resilience defensively. It’s two clean sheets back to back, and we’re hard to beat.
“It’s a good point. If you win your home games and draw your away ones, you’re right in the mix come the end of the season.
“A lot of teams won’t pick up points here. It’s a good start picking up four points from two games.
“But we want to win every game, and I don’t think we did enough today to win – we didn’t ask enough questions of their goalkeeper.”
PICTURES: LUCY DIXON
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