AFC Wimbledon will 'host' their final home game of the 2020--21 season at the Plough Lane Stadium this weekend when Portsmouth will travel up from the south coast under new head coach Danny Cowley . While we are not going to be able to see a game at our new stadium this season but hopefully can get down there soon enough after fans are back later in May and some 'test' events to be organised first. A few fans being allowed in for these test events featuring our youth/academy stars towards the end of May, having seen some pictures taken at the recent Charlton game of the new stadium shows a few things to be completed on the perimeter of the stands it does look like the main stand is ready for action. The Dons played out a 0-0 against Ipswich Town last weekend to continue their recent run of form and then faced fellow relegation candidates Rochdale on Tuesday night where an 97th Minute Joe Pigott goal secured a vital point in a 3-3 draw and as a result of these with two games left we are currently sitting above the relegation places in 19th with 50 points. Just need a point from either of our final two games to be certain of another season in league one, or for Rochdale and Northampton to fail to win their games.
Onto today's game itself this Saturday in League One and our opponents today, Portsmouth, find themselves in 6th place in the league on 69 points so are also desperate for the three points here to secure their play off berth. Managed by Danny Cowley and assisted by his brother Nicky who took over in March 2021. They also played midweek and had a 3-3 draw themselves against Accrington Stanley, late goals for both sides meant they shared the spoils and despite the gap in the table this looks like it could be an open end to end encounter. Portsmouth top scorer John Marquis is the man to stop.
A victory for the Dons would almost certainly guarantee safety after a difficult season with only one more game to come against Lincoln next weekend.
Most Recent League Games (Tuesday night)
AFC Wimbledon 3 - 3 Rochdale
Accrington Stanley 3 - 3 Portsmouth
Our head to head form against Portsmouth is not too bad, never much in it, fourteen fixtures since our return to the league the Dons have five wins, Pompey have eight with only one draw. We did hit them 4-0 back in our first encounter, they reversed that in the last game we played, generally it's no more than one goal between the sides doubt it will be any more comfortable today.
Starting XI's [Confirmed]
AFC WIMBLEDON
Win Odds - 21/10 [William Hill]Tzanev (Gk), 🟨Alexander, Heneghan, Nightingale, Guinness-Walker, Longman, 🟨Dobson, Woodyard (c), Rudoni, Palmer, 🟨⚽Pigott
SUBS - Cox (Gk), O'Neill, Harrison, Oksanen, Assal, McLoughlin, Kalambayi
Win Odds - 5/4 [William Hill]
MacGillivray (Gk), Johnson, Raggett, Downing, ⚽Brown, Naylor (c), Close, Harness, Williams, 🟨⚽Curtis, Marquis
MacGillivray (Gk), Johnson, Raggett, Downing, ⚽Brown, Naylor (c), Close, Harness, Williams, 🟨⚽Curtis, Marquis
SUBS - Ward (Gk), Bolton, Cannon, Nicolaisen, Byers, Daniels, White
Selected Bets On This Match;
- Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @5/2.
- Joe Pigott to score first @4/1.
- Penalty to be awarded and scored @7/2.
- Bookings over 45 points @12/5.
- Over 3.5 goals in match @3/1.
First Half Comments;
We are underway here at Plough Lane as Wimbledon kick off for this vital match at the end of the season. The visitors conjure up the first effort on goal but it's a high shot over Nik Tzanev's crossbar. Not much goal action but two bookings in under twenty minutes for Joe Pigott and George Dobson. And then the moment we needed as Joe Pigott scores on 23 minutes to put us 1-0 up, that joy is very short lived though as Portsmouth go straight up the other end to equalise one minute later, Ronan Curtis doing the damage 1-1. Other games are currently going in our favour too so hopefully we are staying up. The latter half of the opening period is fairly uneventful until a coming together between Cheye Alexander and Ronan Curtis sees them both going into the referee's book. Then a disaster bang on half time as the visitors take the lead from Lee Brown who then scores once again in stoppage time and all that good early work is done for we go in behind, now praying that the results elsewhere continue in our favour.
⚽Full Time Score - 1 - 3
Match Summary;
Yes we lost 1-3, but we actually won as a result of victories for Doncaster Rovers and Blackpool so we stay up. For long parts of the season I couldn't see it happening, but we've escaped again for another season in League One with a game to spare. Will need to improve once more next season but that was one rollercoaster of a season.
Attendance - Sadly still no one for the time being. Maybe sometime later this year would be nice, after all we've a new stadium to celebrate in 2021.
Today's Referee - Our match referee for this afternoon will be Mr Charles Breakspear from Surrey, he was in charge of our 2-2 draw against Charlton he averages about four bookings a game and not afraid to show a red too. Lot of penalties in his matches as well so will be looking to play in those markets. Assistant Referees today will be Michael Webb and Andy Bennett while our Fourth Official today is Conor Farrell.
Dons FINAL league match 2020/21 season:
Sunday 9th May vs Lincoln City (Away)
League One Kick off 12:00pm
Sunday 9th May vs Lincoln City (Away)
League One Kick off 12:00pm
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