Saturday’s win at Wycombe Wanderers should be AFC Wimbledon’s blueprint for the rest of the season according to striker Rhys Murphy.
The Oldham loanee believes the Wombles raised the bar on themselves with their impressive 2-1 win at Adams Park in what boss Neal Ardley told them before kick-off was the first of eight cup finals between now and season’s end in the quest for a playoff spot.
The result ended a spell of just one win in seven for the Wombles and Murphy claims they must not waste their rediscovered momentum.
“The manager said beforehand it was eight cup finals to the end of the season, so we can tick this one off as a good performance, but it has to be the benchmark now,” he said.
“The whole squad was terrific today. We have come to a really tricky place and won and now we need to be like that every week.
“You only get the three points, but on this occasion we stopped them getting the three as well.
Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 AFC Wimbledon in pictures:
“So you could call it a six-pointer, especially at this time of the season it is a massive win for us because it is a really tough place to come and get a result.
“But it will count for nothing if we are sloppy next Saturday at Plymouth.”
Murphy accepts he will have to raise his own game a notch after a match in which he might have bagged a hat-trick but ended up drawing a blank.
The former Dagenham and Redbridge front-man hit the bar with one effort and fired over another with the goal gaping.
And while he won’t be beating himself up about it he knows the report card reads must do better.
“They are the chances I have been brought into the team to tuck away, so that is my one disappointment I will take away from the game,” he added.
“The one I hit over the bar was the one I was most disappointed with, but I don’t want to be over-critical because you are going to miss chances like that. I’m getting in the right positions and on another day those go in.”
Wycombe 1-2 AFC Wimbledon highlights:
