Watson’s injury likely to force Dons into bringing in full-back depth

Tennai Watson’s hamstring injury is a concern for Dons head coach Liam Manning after the full-back limped out of the pre-season game with King’s Lynn Town on Saturday.

Pulling up with 16 minutes to go chasing Jack Tucker’s ball to him, Watson was forced off at The Walks in a game Dons drew 1-1 after equalising through an 88th minute own goal.

Watson was not the only one to come off during the game with injury concerns too, as Josh McEachran was forced off after 20 minutes. But Manning said while McEachran’s injury is not too much of a concern, Watson’s troubles are more of a worry.

“Josh had a little spasm in his foot, so nothing too major but T we will have to look at. He felt something in his hamstring. It's a disappointment because T looked really good today. Hopefully it's not too bad.”

Manning added he will be forced into the transfer market to look for strength in the full-back postion, adding: “We'll need to - it's something we're working on. We've got Daniel Harvie to come back, who is a big player for the group too. It's about finding the right person to fit our group.”

While the game was not a classic performance from his side, Dons looked much improved after the break following a stuttering first half showing.

Though it was a largely full-strength side which kicked off against the Linnets, temperatures of nearly 30 degrees, as well as a long, bobbling surface at The Walks made things harder for the League One side.

Manning said: “The conditions made it difficult, but the things we changed at half-time worked well. And we have to be realistic - we've made ten additions to the side, so we have to understand relationships and how we play.

“There were some bits that were really good, and some bits that weren't.”