AFC WIMBLEDON vs WIGAN ATHLETIC - LEAGUE ONE HOME FIXTURE 2021/22 SEASON [23rd OCTOBER]

Saturday 16th October 2021 3pm
AFC Wimbledon will host their latest League One game at Plough Lane for the 2021-22 season against Wigan Athletic, back to back league draws against Burton Albion and Sheffield Wednesday have halted the run of defeats at least but a win is long overdue to halt the slide down the table. Won't be easy against a strong looking Wigan side today. Both sides were in action on Tuesday night, Dons away to Lincoln City where a 5th minute penalty converted by Aaron Pressley was enough to separate the sides and provide a much needed win for the Wombles.

On the back of Tuesday nights game we are currently in 14th position in the league one table on 17 points. We anticipate further team news before the weekend with the fall out of that defeat and the news that Ollie Palmer is definitely out of the starting eleven which will mean reliance on Aaron Pressley and Ayoub Assal, hopefully Jack Rudoni is available too. Our manager Mark Robinson said that there's no panic in the Wimbledon ranks. Ollie Palmer will be assessed again, but unlikely to play, wasn't involved on Tuesday night either where we only had six players fit for the subs bench. Team news when we have it, Dapo Mebude’s fitness will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s home match. An update from James Simmonds included the latest on the forward who missed the midweek win at Lincoln due to illness. “Dapo didn’t train with the team today, but there is still a possibility that he will be involved tomorrow, he will have a late fitness test, but apart from him everyone else involved on Tuesday is fit and raring to go.”

Recent League One Results
Lincoln City 0 - 1 AFC Wimbledon.
Wigan Athletic 1 - 2 Mk Franchise FC.

Onto today's game itself this Saturday in League One and our opponents today, Wigan are managed by Leam Richardson who was appointed from caretaker to the permanent role in April 2021, previously with Accrington Stanley. After their opening 12 fixtures they sit in 4th place on 25 points. Wigan are captained by Tendayi Darikwa who is also a Zimbabwe international, main threat will come from Will Keane, the Republic of Ireland striker already has six for the season, they also have Charlie Wyke too who was with us on loan briefly and formally with Sunderland, very dangerous pairing up front.

Head to Head

Our head to head form against Wigan Athletic since our return to the league as AFC Wimbledon is brief with just the four encounters since 2017, that first game we lost 0-4 at least it got better, we beat them 3-2 in February 2021 at theirs, while the other two games have finished as draws.

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 23/10 [William Hill]

Tzanev (Gk),  Alexander,  Kalambayi,  Heneghan,  Guinness-Walker,  Woodyard(c),  Hartigan,  Rudoni,  McCormick,  Assal,  Pressley

SUBS - Oualah (Gk),  Lawrence,  Csoka,  Chislett,  Charles,  Osew,  Bartley

WIGAN ATHLETIC
Win Odds - 23/20 [William Hill]
Amos (Gk),  Power,  🟨Darikwa(c),  Whatmough,  🟨Watts,  Naylor,  Bayliss,  Lang,  Keane,  🟨McClean,  Wyke

SUBS - Jones (Gk),  Pearce,  Edwards,  Massey,  Jones,  Tilt,  Humphrys

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @2/1.
• Alex Woodyard to score at any time @8/1
• Penalty to be awarded and scored @7/2.
• Bookings over 45 points @11/5.

⚽Half Time Score - 0 - 0

First Half Comments;

Kick Off 3pm today at the Cherry Red Records, Plough Lane stadium, we will keep updated with events here. The Dons get us underway, looking to secure another important three points on the back of their away win against Lincoln. The visitors have a couple of efforts early on, should be an attacking game with their available options up front. Opening fifteen minutes and you have to say Wigan have had the best of it, but it's still goalless. The Dons come more into the game as the half progresses but despite both sides working hard there is little in terms of end product, feel like one goal might settle this. Two bookings for the visitors is about the only notable action before half time, Kelland Watts and James McClean go into the referees book for fouls.

⚽Full Time Score - 0 - 2    [Kalambayi og 50'  McClean 54']

Match Summary;
Didn't really make any impact on this and decisively beaten by a better side again. Could have been more but also sad to see Kalambayi go off after all our subs had been used, as we cannot accommodate injuries in our thin squad. Cambridge next weekend is a more realistic chance of points. 

My Man of the Match - James McClean (Wigan).

Attendance - 8,047
[Don't know why our attendances are not confirmed on the day itself].  

Today's Referee - Our match referee for this afternoon will be Mr Ollie Yates, from Staffordshire, has been on the list for last 5-6 years, though only seen a few times so far this season. Took two of our games last season a 2-2 draw against Northampton and a 0-0 against Ipswich, averages 3.5 bookings a game. Will have assistance on the touchlines from James Vallance and Paul Kelly while our fourth official on duty today will be Alan Young.

Next league one fixture;
  vs Cambridge United (Away)
  Saturday 30th October @3:00pm.