AFC Wimbledon paid for their “horrendous” start as Johnnie Jackson warned the players their places in the side could be at risk after their Wembley dream ended with a 3-1 defeat to Peterborough United in their EFL Trophy quarter-final at London Road on Tuesday night.
Malik Mothersille opened the scoring in the second minute before Ephron Mason-Clark added a second two minutes later.
Ryan McLean gave the Dons hope with a goal in the 89th minute but the Posh made sure of their semi-final place when Ricky-Jade Jones added their third five minutes into stoppage-time.
The Dons also lost Joe Lewis to injury in the first half.
It’s now full focus on the play-off chase in League Two for Wimbledon after their loss to Darren Ferguson’s League One high-flyers.
“The start we made to the game has cost us any opportunity we had to go further in the competition,” Jackson said on the Dons’ website. “It was a horrendous start, conceding two in the first five minutes – it’s not how you want to start any game let alone a quarter-final. The damage was done. We ended the game on top but it was too little too late.
“We didn’t do all the things that we’re good at. We spoke about doing the right things two minutes before we started the game. About playing in the right areas, being compact, playing in their half, winning headers and winning duels. It took about half an hour for us to do any of that. We did it in the second half and we looked like a good team. That’s us when we’re at it like that.
“We nearly pulled it out the bag in the end because we were doing all of that. We’re more than capable of it. It’s an opportunity missed.
“That’s what I said to the lads at half-time, these games are opportunities to get in the team and stay in the team. You have to take them because there’s competition for places and there might be more further down the line. If you serve up what I saw in the first half, you could be out the team, you might not get back in it.
“There’s a lot of football to play. We’ve got a great opportunity to do something as a group, I want them to use nights like tonight to kick us on.”
Meanwhile, Jackson said the club is working hard to bring in new players ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.
“We know what we want to bring in. We know who our targets are. We’re working hard – myself, Craig Cope and Terry Skiverton – to get the ones that we want. We’ll be working all of tomorrow and all of Thursday until the window shuts. If we get it right we’ll have the opportunity to come out and attack the rest of the season. We don’t want to fall away.”
