AFC Wimbledon are treating every remaining game as a cup final, according to manager Wally Downes.
The Wombles’ manager spoke before this weekend’s trip to Shrewsbury, with his side seven points from safety and rooted to the bottom of the League One table with twelve games to go.
No one at the club believes survival is an impossible task, and the boss warned rivals that the club as a whole are very much looking forward to the challenge of staying in the league.
“We had a disappointing result last week but I was pleased with the way we played and our away form has been good recently, so we go to Shrewsbury with high hopes at the weekend,” said the former Wimbledon midfielder.
“I thought we played well enough to win it on Saturday. In the second half we made some poor decisions. We played ok, there were a couple of poor decisions, and we were punished.”
Their hosts sit 17th, 10 points clear of the London side, and will play many of the teams Wimbledon will hope to overtake before the end of the season.
“To beat Shrewsbury, we’ll need resilience, good play, teamwork, spirit, organisation, and every other buzzword you can think of.
“That’s what it always takes to win an away game, you need to use every tool in your armoury.”
The manager also questioned why there was a difference in form – the club won their last two away games but have only won three times at home all season.
He said: “After losing the amount of games that we did, sometimes there’s a disconnect between the fans and the players. It’s our job now to get it back.
“We had a great result against West Ham and we had a couple of decent results earlier on, but sometimes football is a funny old game. A couple of away wins, but you can’t put your finger on it at home.
“We’re treating every game as a cup final and if the fans come along and treat every game as a cup final as well then we can’t ask for any more than that.”
