Squad rotation is the only option AFC Wimbledon have to get through a ‘punishing’ coming month, according to Neal Ardley.
The Dons are staring down 10 games in the next 35 days and this congestion will only heighten if they get through their FA Cup replay against Bury at Kingsmeadow tonight.
Ardley admits that fans will have to come to terms with certain star players being rested in order to preserve their fitness.
“We had an excellent October and now we’re going in to a punishing few weeks,” he said. “When you look at a game every three and a half days, we’re going to have to use the squad.
“People are going to have to understand that sometimes their favourite players might not be able to start games because of how punishing it is.
“We’re not going to moan about it, we’re going to roll our sleeves up and with a bit of luck by the start of December we’ll still be in both cups and have picked up some more points in the league.”
The Dons chief does not have all of his players at immediate disposal though, with Darius Charles still at least five days away from a return to training.
Left-back Jon Meades was pulled out of the Oldham game at the last minute after suffering a painful recurrence of his ongoing ankle problem.
Ahead of the visit of the Shakers, who they face again in League Two on Saturday, Ardley wants to take advantage of what was in his eyes a fortuitous 2-2 draw in the first game.
“We’ll be going out to try and win, we want to get our home form to mirror our away form which has been decent,” he said.
“They battered us at their place in the first game, we hung on in there and probably stole a replay. Now we’re going to have to make sure we turn that into a second-round tie.”
