Dons striker Stevens 'fresh and hungry' - Jackson
Matty Stevens has begun the season in fine form, scoring four goals in seven appearances for AFC Wimbledon
- Published
AFC Wimbledon striker Matty Stevens is "fresh and hungry" to prove himself in League One after a frustrating end to last season in front of goal, says head coach Johnnie Jackson.
The 27-year-old joined the Wombles last summer and scored 20 goals in his first 38 games with Jackson's side in contention for automatic promotion.
But as Wimbledon's form began to dip, so did that of Stevens. He found the net just once in their final 19 games of the season as the Dons won promotion to League One via the play-offs.
With four goals in his opening seven appearances, Jackson said his striker started the season with "a point to prove".
"He was there week in, week out and I didn't feel the team functioned as well without him. So probably partly down to me playing him so much that he had a little bit of a drop off," Jackson told BBC Radio London.
"He's come back so fresh, so hungry, to I think prove a point, to prove to people that he can do it because he's not really had the opportunity at League One before.
"He's been promoted out of League Two more than once so everyone knows what he can do at that level, but I think he's got a real desire to show he can go and do it in League One and he's started so well."
'We should have more to show from our games'
Johnnie Jackson believes his side should have more points from their opening six League One fixtures
Wimbledon have won three and lost three of their opening six matches in League One, dropping points in narrow defeats against Luton Town, Cardiff City and Bradford City - three former Premier League clubs.
They play Bolton Wanderers this weekend, with their 2-0 win over Lincoln City the only time so far they have faced another side without top-flight experience in the Premier League era.
"I think we should have more to show from the games than we've actually got. We've been competitive in every single game so far. We either win or lose but in every game we've been competitive," Jackson said.
"And we're going to have to again [against] another ex-Premier League team, on the road again - long journey.
"We're going to have to be bang on it to compete against a good Bolton team.
"My lads are loving going to these sorts of grounds - Luton opening day, Bradford last weekend, which is a brilliant place to play football, and now Bolton as well. Great test for us."