Mark Robinson praises AFC Wimbledon after battling draw with Burton

Posted Sunday, October 03, 2021 by PA

AFC Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson feels a change of shape in the second half brought a big improvement in his team during their 1-1 draw with Burton.

Even so, the Dons were close to a fourth straight league defeat before Luke McCormick rifled home an equaliser towards the end of what was a low-quality encounter at Plough Lane.

Following a first half as filthy as the weather, it was almost fitting that the Brewers’ opener should come from a mistake, but the hosts at least deserve credit for not letting their heads drop from that point.

Robinson said: “I thought the first half was poor, it was so uneventful – two teams lacking in confidence.

“You end up with what you had in the first half, it was a real inept performance from us, where we didn’t threaten and I’m sure Jimmy [Floyd Hasselbaink] wasn’t happy with their performance, either.

“He had to change formation, which meant we could play round the outside and, obviously, we got more success.

“We’ve made an error for their goal, but we were much better in the second half, more of a threat.

“It was so key that we got back to ‘us’ today because we went away from that a little bit against Rotherham.

“Fundamentally, it’s good that we got the goal and not had another loss.”

The only chance of a dreadful first 45 minutes came when Burton’s Jonny Smith was denied by a smart save from Wimbledon keeper Nik Tzanev.

A poor back-pass by Anthony Hartigan then gifted the Brewers the lead after 66 minutes, as Kane Hemmings seized upon it before finishing well into the bottom corner.

Just when it looked like that would be enough, McCormick rescued the Dons in the 90th minute with a thumping finish, after Cheye Alexander’s cross dropped his way.

Burton still almost snatched it, however, when defender Ryan Leak had a point-blank effort from Tom Hamer’s cut-back blocked by Tzanev in added time.

Burton boss Hasselbaink said: “We are a little bit frustrated. You score a goal, you are a long time ahead – normally in those moments we defend really well.

“They have lost four in a row so you know you are going to get a reaction, you know you have to dig in until the match opens up.

“It was not a beautiful match to watch, especially in the first half – both sides don’t want to give too much away, we know we have to keep the crowd quiet because they might get on their back.

“People will say the goal was lucky but we looked at them and they play the ball back to goalkeeper quite often and Kane took the goal really well.”