Summary:
The manager is keeping his players focused on League Two survival.
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Neal Ardley insists AFC Wimbledon’s two wins over York City this season will count for little on Saturday with new manager Nigel Worthington in place.
The Dons face City, who appointed the former Northern Ireland boss this week, after an enforced break.
And Ardley urged his side to play without fear and insisted they should not feel under pressure.
“York have a new manager and it is his first week in charge,” Ardley said.
“You could take the reports from their recent games and rip them up because they will not have any bearing on how they are going to play.
“They are obviously going to be motivated by a new manager and it will stoke them up.
“It is not great timing from our point of view, but we have to take control of our performance levels and that is what we have to focus on.
“If we transmit that pressure and fear onto the players then I do not think we are going to get performances from them.”
Ardley insists he is fighting to keep his players focused on League Two survival in what will be a crucial encounter.
But he also accepted his role in taking the pressure off his players as they enter the final phase of the season.
“I know that everyone worries about these six-pointers, but I am trying to retain that tunnel vision of aiming for five wins,” he said.
“If we can get those five wins then we feel that other clubs will not be picking up those points and that will be enough.
“We have got to take the pressure away from the boys. Yes, we have to say to them that in any game of football we are involved in we have to look like the team fighting for our lives.
“That goes for our approach, the desire from the players and effort levels.
“But the other side of that is the players have to play without fear in these games and that has served us well so far.”
Photo courtesy of TheTRStv via YouTube, with thanks.
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