Antony Kay has pushed all memories of his mid-week own goal to the back of his mind, as he prepares to face Tranmere Rovers this Saturday.
Kay, one of Karl Robinson’s summer signings, turned a harmless-looking cross into his own net in the 69thminute during Tuesday night’s defeat to Shrewsbury Town - a goal which turned out to be the winner for the Graham Turner’s side.
The former Rovers centre-half, though, admits that he is experienced enough to deal with the disappointed and is entirely focused on getting the Dons back to winning ways this weekend, as he looks set to take on his former club.
Speaking ahead of the game, the 30-year-old said: “(The own-goal) was a misunderstanding on my part. It wasn’t Ian’s fault as he was shouting for it, I just thought the striker was right on my back and so I decided to clear it. Unfortunately it’s hit by shin and rolled down and it ended up looking like I’d volleyed it into my own goal.
“I’ve been in football a long time and these things happen. I’m experienced enough to know I need to get it out of my head, although I did have a few text messages from friends. I can’t change what happened and so I’ve just got to concentrate on the game against Tranmere Rovers
“If we beat Tranmere on Saturday it will of course help. They had been in the top-two for most of the year but obviously they’ve just slipped down into the play-offs. We’ll go into it with confidence, having beaten them at their ground and so we definitely fancy ourselves to get a result here at our place.”
With just ten games left to go, the Dons’ chance of finishing in the top six are slowly decreasing but Kay is still remaining optimistic that he and his team-mates, now boosted by the return of midfield maestro Stephen Gleeson from injury, can put together a run of form that can see them sneak back into the play-off places.
“It’s not hard to believe that we can still make the play-offs. Stranger things have happened in football and until it’s mathematically impossible we’re going to keep trying. We’ve got ten games left and as a team we’ve set ourselves a target of seven wins and we’ll do our best to achieve that.
“It’s great seeing some of the injured players coming back. Gleeson, in particular, is a very talented footballer and it’s been brilliant having him back in the squad and it’s given us all a boost. On the other hand, though, there are players that are waiting in the wings who are also good enough to come in.”
