Despite finishing the year as joint top goalscorer, Dean Bowditch admits he’s disappointed not to have bettered his tally from 2011/12.
Two seasons ago, after arriving at the Club on a free from Yeovil Town, Bowditch found the net 15 times as the Dons reached the play-offs for a second successive season – although they eventually fell short at the semi final stage.
This year, with Karl Robinson’s side finishing outside of the top six for the first time in three years, Bowditch could only tally 12 goals – a total which frustrates the former Ipswich Town trainee.
“I set myself the same target as I did last year, a target I reached, but I didn’t quite get there this time” the 26-year-old said. “I think I might have got a couple more assists this year though.
“Performance-wise I think I might have played slightly better than I did last year and I might have improved slightly more but just as a team we haven’t been quite at the races in too many games. In some games this year we’ve been on a different level and it’s been an absolute pleasure to be part of those games but unfortunately we haven’t done it enough to get us where we should be.
“It has been a frustrating season because it’s been stop-start but I’ve still played 45/46 games which, when you say that to people, they can’t quite believe. What I have done is play games and then miss two or three days of training to make sure I’m fit for the next game from which I’ve lost a bit of fitness but it’s been difficult for me.
“The last bit of the season I think I played eight or nine 90 minutes on the bounce and I felt really good but unfortunately it was just too little too late.”
