Dons boss explains why former Chelsea midfielder struggled to settle

Mark Robinson has outlined why he believes Luke McCormick struggled to immediately adapt to life at AFC Wimbledon and has added there is “loads more to come” from the midfielder after finding impressive form.

The 22-year-old joined the Dons on a free transfer from Chelsea and was head coach Robinson’s first signing of the summer transfer window after catching the eye during his season-long loan with Bristol Rovers in the last campaign.

McCormick had only found the net twice despite registering five assists in his first 16 games in League One for the South Londoners.

But in his past three outings, McCormick set up up the opener and scored the second in the 2-2 draw against Fleetwood, notched up a hat-trick of assists in the 4-3 FA Cup win over Cheltenham last weekend and opened the scoring in the 2-0 victory at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday evening.

Speaking on McCormick’s recent upturn in form, Robinson told the South London Press: “When Luke arrived, he probably knew in many ways how big a signing he was.

“He had come from Chelsea, and he was Bristol Rovers’ standout player last season, and with that comes a level of expectancy.

“He’s a young man that put real demands on himself, and I just felt that with the demands he puts on himself and the expectancy that he’s probably feeling elsewhere it was hindering him a little bit.

“It was important to keep having those chats and make him realise that, although we knew that there was a lot more to come from him, things were still really positive.

“I showed him his stats six weeks ago, and his stats were almost equal with what he did all season with Bristol Rovers.

“It was just giving him the belief that although we knew there was a lot more to come from his performances, he was still doing lots of good things.

“We work very differently here as well. There were things that Luke had to get used to – how we train, our processes and the way we talk about things.  At times, it feels a bit of an overload for players when they come in. But once they start to settle in and understand it, it just becomes a way of life.

“Also, Luke has had to settle into a new club, he has moved home, and people don’t look at this, but it’s all factor in performance.

“I had every belief that there was loads more to come, and there is still loads more to come from him.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD