Neal Ardley backs Will Nightingale to come back stronger after Walsall defeat

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley has backed Will Nightingale to come back stronger after the defender’s comical own goal helped Walsall to a 3-1 win.

The 23-year-old’s overhit back pass went over goalkeeper Tom King to double Walsall’s advantage after Kieron Morris had put the Saddlers ahead.

Andy Cook netted to make it three before Kwesi Appiah bagged a consolation as Wimbledon lost their first league game of the season.

Ardley admits Nightingale’s bizarre own goal did turn the tide of the contest but the manager is confident the defender and his side will bounce back.

“We’ve got a good group in there,” he said. “Everyone knows, it’s a game of football, people make mistakes.

“We can talk about that, we can talk about missing a chance that would have made it 1-1. It happens at both ends of the pitch. He’s an honest lad, he’s Wimbledon through and through, we’ll pick him up and make him stronger.

“It was like sticking a pin in a balloon, it burst our bubble. We believed we’d score, we were hoping that would be an equaliser and we’d go on and score a winner. But when it went 2-0 we lost our heads a little.

“I just said to the boys, ‘we were always going to taste defeat at some point’. How you lose games can be something you look at.

“We conceded two really, really bad goals, but by and large there were enough positives in our performance. I thought Walsall defended brilliantly and we couldn’t break them down.”

That victory fires Walsall into fourth place and manager Dean Keates was over the moon with the performance from his side.

Wimbledon dominated possession but Keates hailed the way his team stuck together to bag the three points.

He said: “We are delighted to get an away win. There’s times when we were tested to the max, but credit to the players, they kept going.

“The first 20 minutes was the best we’ve played. We scored the first goal, and that’s awoken them. The next 25 minutes they battered us, had a couple of chances from distance, but I’ll give my lads credit, they defended well, and that’s all I can ask for.

“There’s a great togetherness in our dressing room, we’ve got each other’s backs. We had a lot of balls into the box, and we’ve defended them.

“We’ve had a bit of fortune for two goals, but we’ve earned that over the previous five games.

“Defending, there were a lot of times we were there on the first ball, and there on the second one. For all their play, their possession, and the shots they had, our keeper’s not had a shot to save.”