JOHNNIE Jackson admitted he had a go at his AFC Wimbledon players after their poor start at Plymouth Argyle – but praised them for how they worked it out on the pitch before coming back to win 2-1.
Lorent Tolaj out the hosts ahead in the sixth minute at Home Park before two goals within seven minutes either side of the break from Omar Bugiel and Marcus Browne gave the Dons a third straight away win in League One and extended their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Wimbledon are fourth in the table, a point off leaders Cardiff City.
“It was important that we turned up with the right mentality,” Jackson said. It’s a great place to come and play football, there’s always a good atmosphere and I think the game matched the occasion really. We had to really, really dig in and fight for everything, fight for that win.
“Probably weren’t at our very, very best but we had enough moments that obviously got us the win. So yeah, buzzing with that.
“I’ve got to give them credit, to be honest, because I thought we started the game terribly – the boys found a way to get back in it. Plymouth were far better than us in the first 15-20 minutes I don’t know why. They were just sharper to everything, won duels, won second balls.
“I thought we were a little bit, I don’t know, caught on our heels a little bit. They caught us cold and went in front and deserved to. That was frustrating because the game could get away from you in periods like that but fair play to the lads.
“They managed to dig in, ride it out, keep it at one and then built back into the game, found a way to grind it out and obviously scored the goal just before half-time, which definitely helped. It probably changed a little bit of what I was going to say but I still let them know how I felt about the start. But the lads figured it out on the pitch and then at half-time we spoke about not making the same mistake again at the start of the second-half and trying to really turn the screw on Plymouth.”
Wimbledon host Burton Albion on Saturday.
