Ardley under pressure after Wimbledon defeat to Portsmouth

Posted Sunday, October 14, 2018 by PA

Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley admitted his job might soon be under threat after his side slipped to a 2-1 home defeat to Portsmouth.

The Dons have now lost three on the spin and eight of their last 10 in the league and and sit 20th, just outside the League One relegation zone.

Things started badly for the home side as first half goals from Gareth Evans and Tom Naylor put leaders Pompey ahead.

But half-time substitute James Hanson – one of three changes at the interval made by Ardley – sparked hopes of a comeback for the hosts.

“It comes down to me as manager and that hurts me. I need to change things quickly or changes will probably get made,” said Ardley.

“It’s always tough. It’s not just that we’ve now lost three on a trot, it’s so many things. Everyone goes home disappointed at 5pm on a Saturday.

“If you make three changes at half time, you run the risk if you have an injury, but to be honest with you desperate times call for desperate measures.

“We were comprehensively outplayed; we were nowhere near good enough in the first half. We needed to change. To do what I wanted to do that I thought would get us back in the game, I needed to make three changes.

“There was no energy, no tempo, no desire in the first half. In the second half the whole team played with more energy, more tempo, more desire, and played like a Wimbledon team should, all the things that were missing.”

Pompey stay top of the standings, three points clear of Peterborough, but boss Kenny Jackett admitted his side could have made it a little easier on themselves.

“I felt for an hour we were very good and deserved our lead. We got ourselves into a good position at half-time,” he said.

“Even in the first 15 minutes of the second half we had further chances and I would have loved a third goal because we needed that.

“Goals change games and Hanson’s got a great strike. It’s a mistake by ourselves, we tried to play inside football in our defensive third.

“He’s taken it very well and with the three substitutes on they had the momentum.

“I’m pleased with the players, because they found a way of seeing it through. It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked at one stage, but fair play to Wimbledon, they made the last 30 minutes very difficult for us and they put a lot of pressure on us and we couldn’t get out.

“We found a way of getting out of the game. It made it a nail-biter right until the end.”