AFC Wimbledon goal hero Jack Midson has told his team-mates they must forget the desperate disappointment of their FA Cup defeat at MK Dons and concentrate instead on Saturday’s “must win” derby at League Two rivals Barnet.
Midson has also revealed how he dedicated the equaliser that took AFC to within seconds of a second round replay against their arch-antagonists to close friend Mitchell Cole, the brother-in-law of England star Joe Cole who died last week from a heart condition at the age of just 27.
The two men played together at Oxford United two seasons ago and Midson, who headed AFC level with Dons only to see the League One promotion contenders snatch a last minute winner, said: “That goal meant a lot to me because my friend died.
“Our captain, Mat Mitchel-King, also lost his mother recently, so we had white armbands on during the match for those reasons.”
Now Midson must concentrate on a crucial match at the Underhill Stadium which, should AFC lose it, could see them take Barnet’s place at the bottom of the table.
The manner of his side’s loss to Dons was difficult to take, with Midson admitting: “We are obviously disappointed.” But he went on: “That game has gone now and we are out of the FA Cup. We have to lift ourselves because we have a lot to do in the League.
“Our position is not good enough and there is no point hiding that. We need to take the positives from the Cup game into Barnet, which is a six-pointer for us. This is a must-win game and we will give it a good go.”
That statement of intent will please manager Neal Ardley, who is under no illusions about the task facing the team he took on just eight weeks ago. With AFC languishing fourth from bottom in League Two following successive defeats to Southend and Morecombe, he said: “I know that Barnet is a big game, but they are all big games now.
“They were sorry players in the dressing room on Sunday, their heads were down. But that’s football and we must use that hurt to strive on and change our performances in the League.”
