AFC WIMBLEDON boss Johnnie Jackson hailed Ali Al-Hamadi’s impact from the bench in today’s 0-0 draw at Grimsby despite missing a penalty.
The striker replaced Josh Davison in the 55th minute and just before the hour won a spot-kick after being tripped by Harry Clifton.
Al-Hamadi dusted himself down and volunteered to take the penalty, seeing his initial effort parried out by Mariners keeper Jake Eastwood who then thwarted him again from the rebound.
But Jackson was still very impressed by the Iraqi international’s display, pointing out penalty misses are a fact of life in football.
The Plough Lane manager told afcwimbledon.co.uk: “He was excellent when he came on.
“He’s a little bit behind after pre-season so we wanted to time it and bring him on at the right moment.
“I felt we got it right because the impact he had was instantaneous.”
Jackson added: “He won the penalty through all his own work.
“Listen, forwards miss penalties don’t they?
“If you’re a penalty taker you’re going to miss a few. We win, lose and draw together.
“I said to him at the end that he’s going to score a lot more penalties and a lot more goals because of the way we’re set up as a team. We’re playing to his strengths.”
Ironically Grimsby away was Wimbledon’s last League Two fixture, as Jackson’s side signed off the 2022/23 campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Blundell Park.
And the manager believes there was already early evidence on display his side have improved over the summer.
He explained: “It was a really good game that was closely fought. We knew it was a tough place to come after the last time we came here.
“We saw our progression but also how Grimsby have improved as well.
“We come away with a clean sheet and nearly came away with the win in the end. We have to be pleased.”
Jackson has made ten signings this summer and one of the new boys to impress at Grimsby was Sunderland loanee keeper Alex Bass, who marked his debut with a shut out.
The boss said: “He had to be on it. There was periods when Grimsby built up pressure and had corners.
“They had a few shots from range that he dealt with well. They didn’t really break through us and we limited them to that.
“We needed him in those moments. They were important saves.”
AFC Wimbledon are next in action at home to Championship Coventry City in the League Cup on Wednesday (ko 7.45pm).
