Terry Brown insists that AFC Wimbledon will make the Blue Square Premier play-offs this season - thanks to the Kingsmeadow factor.
The Dons slipped out of the play-off places after Tuesday night’s 2-0 reverse at league leaders Oxford United in a game that saw Jay Conroy red-carded.
But with nine of their final 14 league fixtures to be played at home, Brown reckons the Wimbledon faithful can roar them to glory.
He said: “We have home advantage for the remainder of the season and the simple fact is if we win the games we should win we will make the play-offs.
“The fans have a massive part to play in that and I hope they realise that.
“When you go to places like Luton and Oxford they have big crowds, but they do not make life easy for the players or the manager.
“They still consider themselves league clubs and they are obsessed with getting promoted.
“But our fans are a bit more patient and that allows us to play the style of football that works for us.
“If they keep that up, and keep backing us, we can achieve anything.
“Of course we will lose games we should have won as that is football, but if we stick together we could be on the verge of something special.”
The Dons boss had demanded a four-point haul from his tricky three-match away run at Cambridge, Luton and Oxford and that is exactly what he got - Nathan Elder and Danny Kedwell earning a 2-1 win at Luton on Saturday before the Oxford defeat.
And Brown insisted he was satisfied with his side’s efforts.
He added: “To be honest it worked out better than I had hoped as I had planned to win at Cambridge and get a point at Luton, so earning the three points at Luton kept them in check.
“I never anticipated winning at Oxford and there is no shame in that.
“The Oxford game showed us that we are far from the finished article, but we are still a young side that is learning all the time and we will take a lot out of that game.”
Without a game this weekend, Brown plans to play the first team in Tuesday’s Surrey Senior Cup game at Chipstead before they return to Blue Square Premier action at home to Altrincham next weekend.
And the Wimbledon manager revealed there will be plenty of time spent on the training ground between now and then.
Brown added: “We have a good ten days to prepare for Altrincham and we have to use that wisely.
“We still have problems defensively from time to time and the next week will be spent working on patterns and shape, as that can be lost very quickly if you do not keep working at it.
“But we need to take a step back, realise the position we are in and make sure we give it a real go over the rest of the season.”
AFC Wimbledon’s next three matches: Mar 2 Chipstead (SSC, a), 6 Altrincham (h), 9 Crawley Town (a)
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