Carabao Cup Preview: AFC Wimbledon
Written by ad_wilkin on Tuesday, 27th Aug 2024 10:59

Town will make their bow into this year's Carabao Cup competition off the back of playing two of the biggest teams in England. They face a familiar foe in AFC Wimbledon, who they met in the third round of the FA Cup last season.

The Dons made their way quickly up the football pyramid following their formation (re-formation after the original Wimbledon were shipped off to the living purgatory that is Milton Keynes) and were playing football in League One between 2016 and 2022.

They’re now in their third season back down in League Two having finished a respectable 10th last season following a battle with relegation the season before.

They progressed through to this round with a 2-1 victory over Bromley before going on to lose to the same team in League Two just four days later. That has been their only defeat of the season so far and they currently sit eighth in the league.

Goalkeepers

Twenty-year-old Owen Goodman is the man with the gloves. He’s on loan from Crystal Palace having spent last season at fellow League Two side Colchester where he made 38 appearances, keeping just four clean sheets. He did, however, manage to claim an assist, something that is quite rare in a goalkeeper's career.

He’s started in all league games and the cup so far so the more experienced Lewis Ward, who at the age of 27 has already had 14 permanent or loan clubs, looks set to stay on the bench for this one having only made an appearance in the EFL Trophy so far.

Defenders

Wimbledon finished last season operating with a back three and look to have continued that into this season. They have been consistent in that backline across the first three games of the season with Isaac Ogundere, Joe Lewis and Ryan Johnson starting in those roles.

Ogundere is an academy graduate and this is his second full season in the Wimbledon side. He started 25 games last season, largely at right-back and the role he does now play in that back three largely sees the ball wide on the right indicating that the back three will play quite far apart when the Dons are in possession.

That leaves a lot of defensive work on Lewis, who joined from Stockport in January last year. The 24-year-old Welshman is a Swansea City academy graduate who has cut his teeth in the National League before making the step up to League Two. He’s a set-piece goal threat with five goals in 40 Dons appearances so far.

Johnson is the left-footed member of that three and has been with the Dons since July 2023. He made 31 appearances for them last season and like Ogundere on the other side, receives a lot of the ball quite wide on the left.

John-Joe O’Toole is still plying his trade at the age of 35. He was sent off in the final game of last season so has yet to start a match this season, but is in the squad more as a senior head than a regular starter these days. He has 19 Carabao Cup appearances across his long career and could be given a start in this one to give provide some experience either in central defence or as a holding midfielder.

Another player who could be given a start is new signing Riley Hardbottle, who has joined from Hibernian having failed to make the breakthrough there. He is another player that spent the tailend of last season on loan at Colchester starting eight games for the U’s and provides much needed depth to a backline that is currently thin on the ground in terms of numbers.

Wing-back is a position that the Wombles have rotated in the cup with Huseyin Biler and James Tilley replacing Josh Neufville and James Furlong.

Biler made nine starts at right-back last season in the league and the academy graduate had an impressive game at wing-back against Bromley in the first round but could be injured for this one.

Tilley is actually a winger by trade but given the squad size in League Two it looks like he’ll be utilised mainly as a back-up left wing-back this season given his natural left-footedness.

He made 48 appearances across all competitions last season in a number of positions so this is yet another string to add to his bow.

Neufville was once one of Luton’s hottest prospects but he never quite made the grade there. He left for the other side of the Thames in 2023 and made 43 appearances across all competitions last season.

Furlong has joined on loan from Championship side Hull City in what is his second real spell of professional football having previously spent time on loan at Motherwell a couple of seasons ago whilst still at Brighton.

Midfielders

Ahead of those five defenders is compact midfield three which has had some rotation so far. Wimbledon skipper Jake Reeves, however, tends to start most games.

Like a lot of the squad, he’s going into his second season with the Dons, although unlike others this is his third spell at the club having been there on loan in 2012, signing on a free in 2015, being sold to Bradford in 2017 before returning once more on a free following his release by Stevenage in 2023.

He’ll likely be the deepest of the midfield three and already has a goal to his name this season, scoring against Colchester on the opening day.

Alongside him in that game were James Ball and Alistair Smith. Ball opened the scoring against Colchester so goals from midfield don’t seem to be a problem at all, although that opener did just deflect in off of his shin.

Smith is on loan from Lincoln and once again spent some of last season on loan at Colchester. Getting so many players who previously played for a side that narrowly avoided relegation from League Two last season seems like a risky strategy.

Also in the midfield unit is Grenadian international Myles Hippolyte, who left Stockport County (newly promoted to League One) in the hope of more regular football, Callum Maycock, who’s been picked up from National League Solihull Moors, and Welsh youngster Morgan Williams, who spent some of last season on loan at Woking.

Strikers

Where AFC Wimbledon do actually seem to have some proven talent is up front. Twenty-nine-year-old Omar Bugiel scored 13 goals in 41 games last season and has netted twice already this season having finished off last season with a hat-trick at Walsall.

Usually playing alongside him is Matthew Stevens, who scored nine in 28 last season for Forest Green Rovers, all from inside the box, showing his poacher’s instinct. He’s off the mark for this season too with a well taken penalty against Colchester on the opening day.

With those two claiming the main striking roles so far, it’s left Joe Pigott and Josh Kelly to play back-up in the cups so far. It didn’t work out for Pigott at Ipswich and he’ll be hoping a return to the Dons, where he scored 20 goals in 45 appearances in 2020/21 making him one of the hottest properties in League One, will help him refind that scoring form after his barren spell continued at Leyton Orient with only two goals in 36 appearances.

He tapped in the winner from a yard out against Bromley in the previous round of this competition to get himself off the mark for the season and swept home a lovely left-footed finish against Cheltenham on Saturday.

Kelly is another pick up from National League side Solihull Moors and joined in February of this year. The 24-year-old scored two goals in 17 appearances as he struggled to make the step up having netted 13 in 27 in the league below.

The Teams

Premier League survival is the ultimate aim of this season but this cup game looks to have come at the perfect time to try and bed in new players. It’s also a great opportunity to get that winning feeling before more winnable games against Fulham, Brighton and Southampton. Momentum can go a long way.

That means I can see Kieran McKenna picking a strong squad in this one. We could see debuts for Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke, Dara O’Shea, Jens Cajuste and Conor Townsend and I think Ali Al-Hamadi will be champing at the bit to lead the line against his former club.

For Wimbledon, there is likely to be some changes as this is already their sixth game of the season thanks to previous outings in this competition and the EFL Trophy. Pigott will no doubt be hoping to prove a point against his former employers.

Prediction

A first win of the season and hopefully a comfortable one. The Dons have a bunch of new players and despite their attacking threat look weak in the other areas of the pitch.

Town’s squad is now levels above the last time they met last year, whilst Wimbledon’s has arguably declined. A comfortable 4-0 win for the Superblues in this one for me.

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