Darius Charles admits the softly, softly approach adopted in his early days at AFC Wimbledon is now a thing of the past.
The former Brentford and Stevenage defender revealed he was treated with kid gloves when he first arrived at Kingsmeadow on-loan from Burton last year while he tried to battle back from more than a year on the side-lines with injury.
It’s all change now though with boss Neal Ardley having upped the ante on one of the lynchpins of his rear-guard, who scored at both ends in Sunday’s historic 3-1 win over Oxford.
“When I came here last year I was coming off the back of an injury and I was just trying to manage myself through training to get into games, he said.
“The gaffer has told me that now I need to really be pushing myself so I can give more in games.
“So that has been my individual goal to push myself hard in training to make sure when I’m out on the pitch I’m giving more for the team.”
Charles and his fellow Dons will bid to stretch their unbeaten run in League One to six games on Saturday when they entertain Swindon at Kingsmeadow.
