AFC Wimbledon boss Ardley talks changes (From Streatham Guardian)

Team changes not to blame for Accrington defeat, says Ardley

12:00pm Friday 22nd March 2013 in Sport By Tim Ashton

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley made four changes to the team that beat Aldershot 1-0 on Saturday, only to watch them get thumped 4-0 at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday.

However, Ardley stands by the changes that saw Jonathan Meades, Rashid Yussuff, Brennan Dickenson and Jack Midson dropped in favour of Kelly Youga, Stacy Long, Kevin Sainte-Luce and Luke Moore.

Ardley said: “Kelly had to come in for Jonathan because of injury.

“But, overall, it was not a tactical thing. If I had got that wrong I would have held my hand up.

“We felt we needed to win the midfield, so we set up with an extra body in there to win those battles.

“That would have worked, but every time Accrington went with a long ball in behind the back four, they got in one against one and scored.

“Within 30 minutes we were 3-0 down. That has nothing to do with whether you have three in midfield, that has to do with being a bit mentally fatigued and not doing the covering at the back that we would normally do.”