'It was a blood and thunder game': AFC Wimbledon boss Wally Downes boss on Blackpool stalemate

Wally Downes accepted his AFC Wimbledon side could have done more to secure the three points in their 0-0 draw against Blackpool.
AFC Wimbledon manager Wally DownesAFC Wimbledon manager Wally Downes
AFC Wimbledon manager Wally Downes
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Neither side was able to break the deadlock at Kingsmeadow this afternoon as Blackpool earned an away point to halt their three-game losing streak.

But if one side was going to win it, it always looked like the Seasiders were the more likely, with Armand Gnanduillet missing a couple of presentable opportunities and Harry Pritchard blazing over from close range.

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Downes, whose Wimbledon side had won their last two games coming into this fixture, felt they could have shown more.

"It was a dogged performance in a blood and thunder game," he said.

"We had some chances and we should have shown better quality when we got out wide in the second-half.

"In the first-half I didn't think we really pushed them, but at 0-0 you have to put yourself in a great position to win it. We had 45 minutes to win a football match and to step up and do it, but we just couldn't take the extra step.

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"They play with two sitting players and they like to control the ball in their own half, which is fine, it didn't cause us too many problems.

"They had a couple of early chances when they got the ball forward to the big guy, but I was quite comfortable with the first-half.

"I thought they played slowly, but we could have played a bit quicker. We could have harried them a bit more and used the freshness that I thought we had over them earlier in the game.

"We stepped it up a little bit in the second-half, but if we had played with that sort of energy in the first-half then they would have flagged a little bit more than they did."

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The stalemate was Wimbledon's first clean sheet since Downes' arrival at Kingsmeadow.

"It was very important for the players to get that clean sheet, i's a target that you always set," he added.

"I said to them that if they kept a clean sheet they would win it, but we couldn't move on and get the goal. It's a target that we've set and it's our first one. We want to win games and keep clean sheets and if we do both we will be going places."