AFC Wimbledon boss reveals positive reminder from assistant picked him up after shock FA Cup exit

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JOHNNIE Jackson revealed he has been leaning on his staff to get over the bitter disappointment of the Dons’ FA Cup exit as they bid to strengthen their claim for a League Two play-off place when they host Newport County on Tuesday night. 

Wimbledon lost 2-1 to the National League side Dagenham & Redbridge, who went on to draw Millwall at The Den in the third round. 

The Dons are in the last play-off place and Jackson said assistant Terry Skiverton reminded him of that positive after the cup shock. 

“There’s no better way of getting over it than the next fixture,” Jackson said on the Dons’ website. “The reality is that we’re in a really good spot in the league. I spoke to Skivo on Sunday morning and he was quick to remind me of that. Sometimes you need your staff to pick you up as well, which he’s great at.

“We had a good chat about the upcoming game and reminded ourselves of where we’re at. We’re in a great position. The challenge for the lads this time last week was to go and get themselves a play-off spot – now we’ve got an opportunity to build on that, to consolidate and hopefully climb a few more places.

“There are challenges around every corner, I think there’s still going to a lot of ups and downs. There’s going to be some bumps in the road, but what I do know is that the lads are massively up for the fight. They’re looking to take out any frustration that they had after Saturday against Newport on Tuesday.”

Jackson added: “They’re a difficult team to plan for, because they mix up their play well and change their personnel. They look to play out from the back at times and they can go more direct to [Kyle] Hudlin up front, who has obviously got a physical presence as well.

“We’ve worked on how we want to go about nullifying them, how we want to try and hurt them as well, so we certainly think it’s a game we can get a positive result from, but also having respect for them we’ll work on their strengths too.”

Jackson gave an update on his squad as he could be without Joe Lewis, Callum Maycock, Myles Hippolyte, Jake Reeves, Ryan McLean, Aron Sasu and James Ball. 

“Those [first] three will struggle to make it,” Jackson said. “Bally came off on Saturday with a knock as well, so there’ll be a late assessment on him.

“Ryan Johnson played with a heavy cold and did well to get through it, so we’ve looked after him for the last couple of days.

“We’ve got a number of issues with injuries, but it’s time for people to step up now. These are the moments when we need absolutely everyone to play their part.”

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