By Georgia Garnett
AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson hailed his team’s ability to bounce back following a crucial 1-0 victory over Harrogate Town in League Two on Saturday.
Alistair Smith scored the game’s only goal in the 77th minute, finishing off a cross from Osman Foyo.
The Dons secured three points to strengthen their case for promotion, with only five games left of the regular season.
Jackson said: “I think it was a cagey opening in the first 45 minutes, but I thought we played really well in the second half, we scored a really good goal.
“When it’s 1-0, there’s going to be some moments towards the end that you’ve got to see through and obviously, over the last few results, that creates a little bit more tension than perhaps there normally would be, but the boys dealt with it and they got through it.”
Late concessions had seen the Dons take just two points from their previous three games – two goals in the final ten minutes against Barrow and an 87th-minute Walsall equaliser turned two victories into draws
Against Swindon Town the previous Tuesday, they conceded two pentlaites in added-time to lose 2-1.
However, against Harrogate, the Dons held their ground following Smith’s goal to see the game out.
Jackson added: “When it first happened against Barrow, that hadn’t happened before, as our stat of seeing through games is really high – when we go in front in games, more often than not, we see it through.
“For it to happen in consecutive games, it’s there, it doesn’t matter what I say or how I approach it with the lads, you’re going to feel it and the crowd are going to feel it, so you just got to try and embrace it.
“I’ve spoken about some things that I think we can do better but football’s a random game and they’re going to try to create a bit of chaos to get an equaliser, and that’s all that’s happened for me in the last few games. [Saturday], I don’t know if we got any luck but if we did, I think we deserved it.”
With five games to go, the Dons currently sit fifth, four points off the automatic promotion spots, three points above the final play-off spot.
Jackson stressed the need for his team to stay focused, as all remaining matches are must-win.
“It’s five cup finals from now,” Jackson said. “We’ve got what we needed from [Saturday], so we need to approach every last one of these games with the same mindset, we’re going leave it all out there.
“We’re going to go into each one with a plan and the boys will just try to stick to it – if we do that, it gives us a chance.”
Defender Riley Harbottle revelled at the opportunity to fight for promotion in his first season with the club.
Harbottle said: “It’s exciting, that’s what we live for.
“Pressure is a privilege and if we’re fighting at the top end of the table, it’s a lot better than fighting at the bottom end of the table which I was last year [on loan at Colchester United from Hibernian], so I’ll take this every day of the week.
“It’s in our hands, we’ve got to keep doing whatever we can do.”
Four of the Dons’ final five games will be against teams currently in the league’s top ten, starting with fourth-place Doncaster Rovers, who sit one place and two points above them in the current standings.
Harbottle added: “We’ve got games against the teams around us, so we take points off them, we can gain but we’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing, sticking to what the gaffer and the coaches are embedding in us and we’ll be fine.”
The Dons travel to face Doncaster this Saturday at 12:30pm.
