‘Little lack of belief the difference’ – Bromley boss Woodman on EFL Cup loss to AFC Wimbledon

Bromley manager Andy Woodman saw positives in his side’s performance despite their exit from the EFL Cup last night.

Levi Amantchi put the Ravens ahead against AFC Wimbledon in their first game back at Hayes Lane since winning promotion from the National League.

But the Dons hit back through Josh Kelly and Joe Pigott as Bromley’s first-ever EFL Cup tie ended with a defeat.

Woodman said: “We’ve got to grow up a little bit as a club, we’ve got to grow up as players a little bit.

“We need to move on from that as a club – we need to win football matches, continue to win football matches, that’s my message to the players.”

On his side’s performance, he said. “We were good for it in a lot of areas, but we lacked a little bit of belief in the final third and that was the difference.

“We have another game Saturday.

“We don’t have the riches of Wimbledon and the other clubs, we have the smallest budget in the league.

“If I put out my best team all of the time we are going to fall short and get injuries, we need to be sensible.

“We aren’t going to win the Carabao Cup let’s be honest. That being said, I had an 18-year-old playing at right wing-back today who I thought was excellent – that’s the fabric of this football club. We don’t have the money to go and buy all the top players, we have to produce our own which is what we have done before.”

The two clubs face each other again on Saturday in League Two action. It will be Bromley’s first ever home game in the EFL.

“It’s great for the fans, for the people that work at the club and everyone around the club but my job is to win games,” said Woodman. “It’s another football match that we need to win. I know I sound a bit grumpy but that’s the fact of it.

“If I keep living on the past, the past will catch up with me. We need to move forward and realise we need to keep getting results in this league and hit our targets that we set ourselves.”

PICTURES: ED BOYDEN