OMAR Bugiel leapt to the defence of AFC Wimbledon skipper Jake Reeves after he was sent off in the 1-1 draw at Doncaster Rovers in a League Two clash of automatic promotion hopefuls last weekend.
Reeves was dismissed for a high and late challenge on Harry Clifton in the 28th minute, with Johnnie Jackson’s side leading 1-0 thanks to Alistair Smith’s fifth-minute goal.
Billy Sharp was sent off after an off-the-ball incident with Joe Lewis on 72 minutes before Jamie Sterry rescued a point for the hosts eleven minutes from time.
The Dons would have moved ahead of their rivals into fourth place with a win. Instead, they are three points off Walsall in the last automatic promotion spot with four games left. Doncaster have a game in hand on all of their promotion rivals and sit a point off third.
“An incident, which I believe was completely accidental, changed the game,” Bugiel said. “We had to dig deep and change formation. We stuck to what we believed was the right thing to do to see the game out, but unfortunately we were undone by a deflection.”
It was midfielder Smith’s sixth goal of the campaign, his second in two games.
Bugiel said: “I’ve known Smudge for a very long time. That’s him, once he gets an opportunity like that, he always scores. I’ve seen him do it at Sutton, he scored close to ten goals that season. I had a good chat to him and made a big effort to bring him to the club and tell him what being a Dons player is all about. You can see how much he is embracing it all.”
Bugiel had to drop back into midfield after Reeves’ sending-off and has scored only one goal in his last 23 games.
“I’m frustrated with myself because as a striker you want to score goals but on the other hand it’s about winning games now,” Bugiel said. “We have to ensure the final four are positive results.
“You have to play in a position that you’re not used to but you have to do your job for the team,” he added. “I thought the young boys which came on – Aron Sasu and Osman Foyo – did really well and I’m sure they’re both going to have a very good future.”
Wimbledon host Chesterfield, who are ninth, four points outside the top seven, at 3pm on Good Friday.
