Rochdale boss Barry-Murphy has a lot of respect for AFC Wimbledon ahead of crunch clash

BY KAI BENNETT

Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy has expressed his admiration for AFC Wimbledon ahead of tomorrow’s crunch Plough Lane meeting.

A win for the Dons would guarantee their League One status for next season.

Rochdale are deep in drop danger – five points adrift of safety with three games to play. They have not beaten Wimbledon in their last eight attempts, a run that stretches back until 2014.

“[It’s a] brilliant game for us,” said Barry-Murphy. “For a long time we would have been the team who everyone was thinking could be the team that would go down alongside them [AFC Wimbledon].

“It’s been this way all season. Wimbledon have been on a great run themselves and I have a lot of respect for them.

“Wimbledon have been scoring a lot of goals recently and they’ll see us as the game they can secure their League One status for next season.”

The last time the two sides met, AFC Wimbledon ran out 1-0 winners at the Crown Oil Arena.

Barry-Murphy knows a lot about Mark Robinson’s team, who have taken 13 points from a possible 15.

“We have our own views about [the League One relegation battle] and we have seen a lot of Wimbledon and we believe we can cause them a lot of problems ourselves.

“A point is no good for anyone, we go there looking to win as we do in every game. We were of the same mantra against Crewe on Saturday. That’s been the same all season.”