'Disgraceful': Johnnie Jackson slams Wimbledon's 3-0 defeat as Mansfield Town the 'miles better' side
AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson was left ‘hugely disappointed’ with his side’s performance against Mansfield Town on Tuesday.
While Stags marked Nigel Clough’s special occasion with an emphatic win, the Dons were forced to accept their third consecutive defeat in League One.
The 3-0 win was Clough’s 275th EFL match in charge of Mansfield, overtaking Ian Greaves’ previous record. Prior to Tuesday, Stags had picked up just one point away from home but now stand unbeaten in their last five games.
Wimbledon had not conceded a single goal at Plough Lane before this week and now have their first home defeat on the board. The result came just three days after they suffered a humbling 5-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Jackson did not mince his words when discussing his side’s performance against Stags.
"Hugely disappointed, fuming with that first half performance to be honest, I thought it was disgraceful,” he told club media. “On the back of a poor performance on Saturday, all we've done is speak about reaction and we've served that up in the first half and it's just not good enough.”
Mansfield Town went 2-0 up in the first half thanks to a Michael Smith brace and had other opportunities to widen the score-line as well. Stags registered ten shots and four on target in the first 45 minutes as they looked a real threat to Wimbledon’s defence.
The Dons came out fighting in the second half but Stags did well to hold firm and deny them a way back into the match, despite periods of high pressure. Jon Russell’s goal in the 73rd minute then put the result beyond doubt.
“The game could have been gone in the first half, they were miles better than us,” Jackson continued. “And for us to then turn it round and show the energy and front-footedness that we did in the second half is disappointing. Because we should have done that from the start.
“Even out of possession, we're getting run past, we're not stopping crosses, we're letting too much come into our box. And that's personal pride, individual battles. It was a match-up out there, two similar shapes, but in the first half, they ran all over us and it's tough to take.”
Wimbledon have now conceded ten goals in their last three fixtures and drop down to 16th as a result of the consecutive defeats. Meanwhile, Mansfield rise up to 10th with Blackpool their next opponent this weekend.