Clash of the underdogs as AFC Wimbledon take on Accrington Stanley

The respective stories of AFC Wimbledon and Accrington Stanley are amongst the most impressive in the EFL.

Fans of both had to rebuild their club from scratch after collapse as Stanley, “the club that wouldn’t die”, were reformed in 1968, then AFC Wimbledon were created in 2002 to provide a spiritual continuation of the original Wimbledon.

It is a great achievement for Dons and Accy to be in the EFL, let alone entering their fifth and third seasons in League One respectively.

The two underdogs, led by respective club legends in Glyn Hodges and John Coleman, have much in common on the field, too, with both bosses this term favouring 3-5-2.

Wimbledon have had plenty of joy with that system, establishing an impressive strike-pairing of the lively Ryan Longman, on loan from Brighton and Joe Pigott, who has been directly involved in six league goals so far this season.

Last season, Pigott was the de facto reference point from deep and had some difficulties because, despite his height, he hasn’t always considered himself an archetypal target man.

This season, Wimbledon are still playing direct but hitting Pigott from more advanced areas whilst getting more men forward, with adventurous wing-backs.

Sean McLoughlin can also act as an attacking midfielder, so it’s not surprise to see him flying down the right flank with gusto, while Steve Seddon – popular in his previous loan spell from Birmingham in 2018-19 – is aggressive in the press and loves to make inverted runs from the left into goalscoring positions, as he did for his strike in the 1-0 win at Fleetwood.

That victory showed that, even with a low budget, Hodges’ troops can be competitive at this level – Stanley’s 2-0 opening day win over Peterborough proved a similar point for themselves.

Alas, the Reds could not quite follow up on that deserved victory, which came courtesy of thumping strikes from Dion Charles and Tariq Uwakwe, with back-to-back league defeats completed by a home loss to Oxford.

Coleman felt the 4-1 scoreline did not quite provide a fair reflection of the balance of play, with Stanley creating some good chances after the interval and two Oxford goals came after Charles’ red card, so his side are not to be underestimated.

A key theme of Stanley’s play is the rampaging runs of right-sided centre-back Ross Sykes who, as soon as passing forward, will get the insurance of Seamus Conneely dropping back from midfield and gallop deep into the final third.

From there, Sykes can threaten uncharted and he has managed two efforts on target – only striker Cassidy has mustered more – and the tall defender could be a dark horse in general play, as well as from set pieces.

On the downside, Uwakwe has been unable to build on an outstanding start to the season due to an ankle injury, meaning Tom Allan has had to play at left wing-back.

Because Allan, on loan from Newcastle, is a goalscoring right winger by trade with negligible senior experience, he lacks the defensive qualities to accurately protect left-sided centre-back Cameron Burgess.

That side, for Stanley, could come under threat from McLoughlin’s driving runs, but then Cassidy and Colby Bishop are a strike-pairing who can cause problems while Joe Pritchard’s creativity can cause problems for Wimbledon, too.

These clubs have worked miracles to get this far – both must tap into their unique spirit to remain competitive.