We couldn’t cope with York – Brown

AFC Wimbledon boss Terry Brown was left shell-shocked after his play-off hopes were finally ended with a crushing 5-0 defeat at York City.

The Minstermen never looked back after taking the lead inside the first minute through Michael Rankine, who later added his second after leading scorer Richard Brodie had celebrated his second hat-trick of the season.

“I must admit it was a very difficult half time talk as I cannot remember ever being four down at the interval,” Brown told AFC Wimbledon’s official website.

“I asked the players to go out and win the second half and show that they really wanted to wear the badge with pride. I was pleased with the spirited display after what can only be described as a horrendous start when we conceded after seventeen seconds.”

Dons had earlier entered the contest knowing that nothing less than a victory would suffice if they were to have any chance of trying to catch their latest opponents.

He continued: “I was pleased with the fact we continued to pass the ball around all night. However, we can`t hide from the fact that we could not physically cope at the back with the second robust team we have played in three days.

“It is evident now that the players are struggling for legs. The schedule we are playing is severely testing the depth of our squad and we could really do with some fresh legs but at this time of the season we cannot do this.”