Dons boss expresses his anger as it is now a ‘huge job’ to retain their League One status
Mark Bowen admitted that AFC Wimbledon have a “huge job” on their hands to avoid League One relegation after their 3-1 defeat at Crewe on Saturday afternoon.
The Plough Lane outfit took the lead through Sam Cosgrove but three second-half goals from the hosts condemned Wimbledon to another loss and stretched their winless run to 130 days.
Bowen said: “My first thought is a lot of anger. I share the fans’ anger. They’ve sat through it for what they feel is far too long now. I’m still learning about this group.
“I saw things today that really hit home to me. I heard players saying things at half time in the dressing room and meaning it, but that’s a safe place. It’s when they go on to the pitch that the spotlight is on them.
“We gave away a terrible goal. We started the second half poorly. We put ourselves under pressure needlessly. With what’s gone on here over the last six months, you can literally see the confidence draining out of the players. They need to show more mental strength, more resilience and more heart at times.
“We’ve got a huge job on our hands now. We need to go into the Wycombe game and show the sort of signs that we’ve seen during my first three games here.
“We’ve got to come back – we’ve got to get ourselves together in order to be mentally prepared for Monday’s game.
“I didn’t see that coming. I hadn’t seen it until today, that’s why it’s such a shock. But we’ve got to comeback, we’ve got to get ourselves together and make sure we are mentally prepared for Monday’s game.
“In the four games I’ve been here, we’ve come from behind twice. At Sheffield Wednesday and against Charlton. We took the lead against MK but that was a different sort of game because it shows where they are in the league.
“Football has a habit of kicking you when you’re down but it can also be in a good way just when you think things can’t get any worse, things can turn – we have to make sure we turn it.”
PICTURES: LUCY DIXON
