AFC WIMBLEDON v CREWE ALEXANDRA -- 20/21 LEAGUE ONE - PLOUGH LANE 19th DECEMBER 2020

Saturday 19th December 2020 3:00pm

AFC Wimbledon will 'host' their next home game back in Wimbledon against Crewe Alexandra at the New Plough Lane Stadium. Hopefully we can soon have a small crowd in attendance seems that is not quite ready yet. Getting beaten recently by Bristol Rovers 4-2 here and then away to Charlton 5-2 has really put a dent into our hopes and I would rather not be facing yet another relegation battle this season. We have a game on Tuesday night up at Sunderland ending up with a 1-1 draw which leaves the Dons on 21 points and 14th place in the League One table as we head towards the busy Christmas schedule. Crewe will be without their captain Perry Ng, who has been given a six game ban after spitting at an opponent after his side's FA Cup loss at Cheltenham Town. The 24-year-old spat water at Robins coach Wade Elliott after the final whistle of the game on 28 November. Ng, who has featured in every league game for Crewe this season, will not feature again until after Christmas.

Onto the game itself on Saturday in League One and lets have a look at our opponents today, Crewe Alexandrea are managed by ex Rotherham and Morecambe defender David Artell the are currently sitting in 11th place in the league on 26 points. Their recent form is good and arrive on the back of a 2-1 home win against Northampton last weekend and then won again against Plymouth Argyle 2-1 on Tuesday night. While some sides have seen a return for a limited number of supporters in attendance it would appear that this is some months off for Dons fans and worse as we have entered Tier 3 in London.  Hope to see the front pair of Ryan Longman and Joe Pigott continue up front, they came good the other night creating chances, better than the long aimless hoofs up field we started seeing with just a sole front man. Could still do with someone big to attack corners which appears to be a weak spot once again.

Most Recent League Games
Sunderland 1 - 1 AFC Wimbledon

Crewe Alexandra 2 - 1 Plymouth Argyle

Head to Head
We've only played against Crewe twice and that was back in our first season in League Two back in 2011-12 season. We failed to win having lost the home fixture 1-3 and got a draw 3-3 in the return. Many changes since then but I hope we can secure a win today to even things up a little. 

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 13/5 [William Hill]

Trueman (Gk),  Thomas,  Nightingale (c),  Csoka,  McLoughlin,  🟨Woodyard,  🟨Reilly,  Rudoni,  Seddon,  ⚽Longman,  Pigott

SUBS - Tzanev (Gk), Alexander,  Hartigan,  Palmer,  Chislett.  Guinness-Walker.  Kalambayi

CREWE ALEXANDRA
Win Odds - 11/10 [William Hill]
🟨Jaaskelainen (Gk),  Offord,  Lancashire,  🟨Beckles,  Pickering,  Murphy,  Wintle,  ⚽Finney,  Dale,  ⚽Mandron,  Kirk

SUBS - Booth (Gk),  Powell,  Porter,  Zanzala,  Griffiths,  Adebisi,  Johnson

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @9/4
• Penalty Taken @11/4
• Joe Pigott to score first @9/2
• AFC Wimbledon to win 1st half @ 3/1

⚽Half Time Score - 0 - 0

First Half Comments;
Kick off at Plough Lane as the visitors Crewe get us going today, the Railwaymen start well and are a possession side, win the opening corner but no significant chances in the opening 5-10 mins. Dons continue to weather the storm and at 20 mins in we still level but having little chances, hopefully we can break and have a few chances ourselves soon. Alex Woodyard picks up the first booking in what has been a quiet first half to date. The final action of a dire half is a booking for Callum Reilly and it's 0-0 at the break.

⚽Full Time Score - 1 - 2    [Longman 90']    [Mandron 60'  Finney 91']

Match Summary;
Thought we got a draw in the 90th min from Ryan Longman having been out played the whole game and going behind to a goal on the hour from Mikael Mandron. But Crewe scored immediately from Oliver Finney to take it 1-2 and this is our season in a nutshell.  

My Man of the Match - None of them, very poor again.

Attendance - None for now, maybe once we exit Tier 3 or in 2021.

Today's Referee - Today's match referee for this weekend will be James Linington from Newport. Appears to have been taking Championship games this season and previous year so is this a step down. Did take our 1-1 draw with Lincoln City last season though, averages under three bookings a game and comes with plenty of experience. Assisted today by Adrian Waters and Carl Fitch-Jackson, with the fourth official duties carried out by Rob Smith.

Dons next league match:
Saturday 26th December 2020 vs Oxford United (Away)
League One Kick off 3:00pm