Neal Ardley says AFC Wimbledon have put him through the emotional wringer and admitted he had started to question himself before the Dons stopped the rot at Newport County last night.
Kevin Sainte-Luce and Charlie Sheringham came off the bench to turn the game on its head on Rodney Parade as the dynamic duo both got on the scoresheet in the final few minutes to cancel out Ross Worner’s earlier error.
It ends a run of four straight League Two losses for the Dons, who had also failed to find the net in their previous three outings, and a relieved Ardley revealed the results had started to take their toll on him as a manager.
“I’m quite emotional to be fair,” Ardley told Dons player. “I’ve had to search long and hard in the last few weeks and you start to wonder about this game because you prepare the team well, they go out and put in some good performances and we’ve lost four games, three of which we didn’t deserve to lose.
“What we’ve got to do now is not pat ourselves on the back because it’s only one win. We’ve got to go away to Fleetwood and make sure we come out of it with something because we are good enough to finish the season strong.
“It’s been a really tough few weeks for all us, me in particular, I’ve suffered through these defeats because I really want to do well for us. We don’t do things the easy way but I’m pleased with the character we’ve shown.”
With the luck Wimbledon have been having in recent weeks, Ardley feared the worst when Worner’s mistake gifted Newport the lead.
But the manager rolled the dice and won as two of his three changes made the difference, with Sainte-Luce’s winner clocking up 1,000 league goals for AFC Wimbledon.
“Ross hasn’t had a save to make and then the ridiculous happens,” Ardley added. “You start thinking ‘oh no, not again’ but credit to the subs who came on and had a big impact on the game.
“Shez [Charlie Sheringham] has been desperate to play and he came and saw me yesterday about playing. He’s looked lively in training and I know he will score goals. When he missed his first chance thought it was going to be one of those days, but credit to him for coming back and scoring.
“We know that Kevin Sainte-Luce can be anything. We put him on the left side so that we could talk him through the wing-back role! He has cut inside and delivered a wonder strike for the winner.
“After we've played teams they always talk afterwards about our winger and ask about him. But people need to trust me. I understand that Kevin is an impact player and at the moment that is what he’s giving us until we can turn him into a better footballer.”
