Jackson admits Wimbledon are making the same mistakes
It was a familiar tale at Plough Lane on Saturday as, for the third consecutive game, AFC Wimbledon were on the wrong end of the final score despite taking the lead.
Ali Al-Hamadi put the side ahead against Mansfield Town before the Stags responded with strikes from Riley Harbottle, Danny Johnson, and Davis Keillor-Dunn. The 3-1 defeat means it is now seven games without a victory for the Dons.
Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson believes his side are not giving themselves enough cushion to see their lead through.
He said: “I’m losing track of how much I’ve said it recently. We more than matched Stevenage on Tuesday, and Mansfield today, two teams near the top of the league. However, we are only doing it for 60/70 minutes.”
Jackson was pleased with the start his team made, with Josh Davison and Ethan Chislett both going close before Al-Hamadi’s fifth goal in four games put the Dons ahead.
However, they found themselves pegged back five minutes later after Harbottle rifled home at the far post following good work from Stephen Quinn.
The former Charlton manager believed his side should have been out of sight at half-time and drew another similarity to Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss at home to Stevenage.
Two second-half goals, which Jackson labelled as poor ones to concede, meant the game marked a third successive loss. The Dons have now picked up just one win in eleven matches in 2023, and find themselves in 15th in League Two.
However, the AFC Wimbledon boss believes the rut his side finds themselves in is ironic as he has seen a lot of good stuff from the team. Despite their form, he believes: “We’ll turn it around.”
Imbalance seems to be the Dons’ biggest enemy. At the start of 2023, they struggled in attack, scoring twice in seven games. They seemed to have turned a corner, scoring in four consecutive matches for the first time since early November.
It is now in defence where they’re struggled, conceding at least twice in each of their last four games. Jackson believes the inconsistency in their backline is a contributing factor, due to several injuries.
“You get one back, and another goes out at the moment, so it’s not been settled,” he said. “Most of the sides that are having success are more settled. For instance, when we had a settled side, we were picking up points.”
Now sitting 13 points off the playoffs with 12 games left, Jackson admitted breaching the top seven will be a difficult challenge. He has already started looking towards next season, having learnt a lot about his players, the league, and himself.
“I want to start shaping a squad now that will get us into the top end of the league. I’ve got big decisions to make, and I know we’re gaining a clearer idea of how we want to go about it.
“I need to use between now and the end of the season to find out about my players, and how they see the future.”
