Sunderland thoroughly deserved victory, says Wombles boss Mark
AFC Wimbledon boss Mark Robinson says Sunderland were worthy winners at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The Black Cats came through a challenging game to seal a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Carl Winchester's deflected effort midway through the second half.
Though there was a touch of fortune about that strike, Robinson conceded that it was deserved on the balance of play, and said his side hadn't done enough throughout the contest.
"We were looking forward to coming up and seeing where we are as a side," Robinson said.
"When we reflect now, we can see that we're not where we need to be.
"There were some good signs but not enough of them.
"We wanted to come and really try to take the game to Sunderland but to be honest we weren't really able to do that.
"I've said to the lads there, it's very easy to sit and say it's a deflected goal they've scored but that's just covering up cracks.
"They've had more than enough chances and we've not done enough.
"But we're a very, very young squad and we have to reflect and learn from that.
"I thought our midfielders did a lot of good work but our key players going forward haven't done enough today.
"I think in the first half we were okay, but a lot of their attacks have come from our poor ball retention.
"If you don't secure it, they'll come at you with good pace and quality and we weren't quite where we needed to be.
"Sunderland are very bright going forward and have players who can hurt you.
"We tried to nullify that and I thought, in the first half, we did do that to an extent.
"Second half, if I'm honest they caused a lot of problems.
"They moved it very quickly and I can't sit here and say the goal wasn't coming, because it did feel like that.
"We probably then didn't have a strong enough reaction to feel like the equaliser was coming, and that was a disappointment."
Sunderland's win moved them to fifth in the nascent League One table, a point behind leaders Sheffield Wednesday, while AFC Wimbledon currently sit 14th.