Alexander relieved as Town halt rotten run
FLEETWOOD Town eased the pressure on manager Graham Alexander after a goalless draw with AFC Wimbledon at Highbury Stadium.
The hosts were beaten 4-0 by Plymouth on Tuesday – their fourth defeat in five matches – but they stopped the rot with a battling display.
Alexander was disappointed not to have come away with all three points but admitted he was happy to grind out a result.
He said:“We were looking to win the game but you don’t go from getting beat 4-0 at home to playing champagne football and you have to grind it out.
“I felt we were a bit cautious in the first half but we urged them to be more aggressive in their play in the second period and try and create some chances.
“We probably need a little break.We had a few opportunities here and there and if one goes in I think it probably changes things.
“Our attitude was better; we just need to get back to what we were doing in the first half of the season.”
Fleetwood engineered the best chance of the first half when Mikael Mondron forced a diving save out of Ross Worner with a low strike from the edge of the box.
Both sides were then forced into early changes with Bobby Grant and Aaron Morris replaced by Josh Morris and Harry Pell respectively.
Wimbledon grew into the game and went close themselves when Luke Moore bent a 20-yard shot narrowly wide of the right-hand post in the second period.
The home side rallied late on as they adopted a more direct approach and defender Nathan Pond could have won it when he headed wide an Antoni Sarcevic cornerkick with minutes remaining.
But Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley felt his side were well worthy of a point and paid tribute to his defence for another resilient showing.
He said:“I thought we played well and there was nothing between the teams.We came here to win the game and attack – we had chances, but lacked quality in the final third.
“We’ve picked up four big points this week and we looked like a good decent team.We had good variation and changed our system a couple of times.
“We were great at the back and that is the really pleasing thing for me. Will Antwi and Darren Jones were excellent for us at centre-back.
“I can’t remember too many times we’ve been opened up since I took over, we’ve looked really good at the back and that’s what we want.”