Match Preview: County v AFC Wimbledon

County take on AFC Wimbledon for the very first time this weekend, as we look to return to winning ways at Edgeley Park and begin climbing up the League 2 table.

Antoni Sarcevic’s third goal of the season for ten-man County last weekend saw us avoid a fifth league defeat of the season, as we salvaged a point against Swindon Town. That result, just our second league draw of 2022, leaves us 19th in the table on four points after six games, two points above the relegation zone and four points behind Saturday’s opponents.

Wimbledon, meanwhile, have had a mixed start to life back in League Two following a first relegation in the Club’s history last season – they currently sit in 12th place following a 1-0 defeat at home to Barrow last Saturday, with midfielder Paris Maghoma sent off late on for the Dons.

Our Opponents:

AFC Wimbledon will be the youngest professional side that County have ever faced when we go head to head this weekend, having been first formed in 2002 by disgruntled Wimbledon fans angry at their Club being moved 80 miles away to Milton Keynes, reforming as MK Dons.

Their rise in that time has been quite remarkable, rising from the depths of non-league all the way to League One, with victory in the 2016 League Two play-off final against Plymouth Argyle securing a sixth promotion in just 13 years.

Ollie Crankshaw could be in line for his 50th County appearance tomorrow afternoon.

They were one of the two sides who replaced County when we were relegated into non-league in 2011, along with Crawley Town – they are the only two Clubs in the Football League that County have never played.

They lasted six seasons in the third tier, rising above MK Dons for a time in the process, but spent the majority of their time in the division battling hard against relegation, twice finishing just one place above the drop zone.

That spell finally came to an end last season though, with The Dons relegated after a dreadful second half of the season that saw them win none of their final 27 league games, drawing 13 and losing 14 as they plummeted down to 23rd place.

They won just six league games all season, the fewest in the division, and a first ever relegation for the Club was confirmed on the final day of the season with a 4-3 defeat at home to Accrington Stanley.

Manager Mark Robinson was sacked with just seven games remaining in a late bid to rescue their season, but interim boss Mark Bowen was unable to mastermind a turnaround and has himself since left.

Former Charlton boss Johnnie Jackson was chosen as the man to lead the side in League Two this season, just 13 days after it was announced he was leaving his former Club.

He’s since added real experience to his back-line with the additions of full internationals Chris Gunter and Alex Pearce. Former Reading man Pearce has seven caps for the Republic of Ireland, whilst Gunter is something of a Wales legend with over 100 caps for his country, becoming the first Welsh player in history to reach that landmark. The right-back worked with Jackson last season during their time at Charlton Athletic.

Ryan Croasdale made his 100th appearance for the Club on Tuesday night at Port Vale.

A familiar face could feature up front for the side in the form of the noticeable six foot nine centre-forward Kyle Hudlin, who featured against County for Solihull last season. The big man completed a move to Huddersfield in the Summer before being loaned out to Wimbledon, although he hasn’t featured for the side since a Carabao Cup tie with Gillingham four weeks ago.

The Dons got their season off to a perfect start on the opening day, finally ending that miserable winless run by beating fellow relegated side Gillingham 2-0 at Plough Lane. They followed that up with a point against Hartlepool, but threw away a 2-0 lead in both of their next two league games, drawing 2-2 at Doncaster and being hammered 5-2 away at Mansfield.

Victory at winless Crawley was to follow, before last weekend’s defeat against Barrow which leaves them with two wins, two draws and two defeats from their opening six games – very much a mixed bag.

One to watch:

Wimbledon crucially kept hold of some of their key players over the Summer despite relegation, one of which was mercurial midfield talent Ethan Chislett.

The 24-year-old South African has caught the eye against County in the past whilst playing for Aldershot Town, who he joined in 2019 following a stint at Metropolitan Police FC. His mesmeric performances in the National League for The Shots soon earned him a move to Wimbledon after just one season, and he has gone on to make over 50 appearances for the London Club.

Match Stats:

  • If selected on Saturday, Ollie Crankshaw will make his 50th appearance for the Club.
  • Paddy Madden’s three-match suspension means he will not start a league game for County for the first time since November – a 4-1 win at Wealdstone, in which Ollie Crankshaw scored a hat-trick.
  • Although this will be our first meeting with AFC Wimbledon, we have played Wimbledon FC on 12 previous occasions – winning just once.

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