ALISTAIR Smith was pleased with how AFC Wimbledon handled the build-up and intensity of their promotion clash with Salford City as Matty Stevens scored the only goal to send his side second in League Two.
Stevens bagged his sixteenth league goal of the season in the 65th minute as the Dons moved to within eight points of Walsall with a game in hand.
Johnnie Jackson’s side are unbeaten in ten games and haven’t lost in 2025.
“I wouldn’t have wanted the ball to have fallen for anyone else, what with the form Matty has been in this season. It was a massive moment in the match,” Smith said on the Dons’ website.
“It was a tight game and there were a lot of mind games going into it, being such a top-of-the-table clash. To get that goal at that time, to settle us down and keep the tempo going, was important.
“The intensity surrounding the game was a bit different. The pitch was a bit bobbly, so it made the game a bit bitty. It was always going to be one goal that would swing this game and I’m glad we got it.”
Midfielder Smith, 25, made his 35th appearance of the campaign and has gone past 200 career games since joining on loan from Lincoln City last summer.
“It’s something I’ve prided myself on this year,” Smith said. “The number of times I’ve been told availability is the best ability is something I’ve worked upon, to keep myself fit and churning out the games and I’m feeling really good.
“I’m not going to slow down anytime soon and I’m able to keep going up until the very end of a game. I’m determined to keep going until the end of the season.
“I am proud of it, because it’s the classic story of being told that I’m not good enough many times. I’ve had to move on and pave my way through non-league to get back into the Football League, and so to get to 200 appearances is massive for me and my family and shows that all the hard work paid off.
“I said to the manager, when I signed, that being here is a familiar area to me because I was previously at Sutton. I’m literally five minutes down the road from the house I used to live in.
“The memories flooded back when I joined up here, it’s a similar area and I know where I’m at. With this group of lads, it’s been amazing.”
