AFC Wimbledon: James Ball and Aron Sasu situations will be on Johnnie Jackson's mind | OneFootball

With Johnnie Jackson hoping to shape his squad over the summer window, he may encounter a couple of headaches over current players

Highlights

Johnnie Jackson's reign at AFC Wimbledon has been fairly drama-free and with that, he has not had to face too many dilemmas throughout his two seasons at the helm.

However, with a squad that has been shaped, in the majority, by him, he now faces a couple of situations with players that have been signed or brought through by the former Charlton Athletic boss.

Indeed, the situations of both James Ball and Aron Sasu are likely to be on Jackson's mind as pre-season ramps up...

James Ball

Ball feels the more difficult of the two situations to handle, with the midfielder looking set to potentially spend another season fighting for a starting berth.

He only joined the club last summer but didn't feature all that regularly in 23/24, having to play second fiddle to a midfield stacked with the talents of Jake Reeves and Armani Little.

This resulted in 25 appearances in the League across the season, with only a measly 14 starts sparsely spread over the season.

He did net his first goal for the club early on in those appearances against Forest Green Rovers, but from there out, apart from a small injury crisis in the midfield, Ball rarely featured.

Surely this must have angered a player who had been a good performer for his old side, Rochdale, and had turned up at the Dons looking to play a big part.

However, with new signings being made in the middle of the park, the situation Jackson must now weigh up where Ball fits in.

It's not just new arrivals threatening to keep him down the pecking order, there is also the injection of youth in midfield that is coming through from the academy at the moment, with Morgan Williams and Kai Jennings, as well as Harry Sidwell, presenting very interesting options in the battle for places.

The best possible solution for this is to give Ball a real chance in pre-season, perhaps against the top sides that Wimbledon will be facing in Brentford and Charlton Athletic, to prove that he can be relied upon in stern tests, like he did against Chelsea, and play more regularly.

Aron Sasu

Sasu is perhaps a little easier to work out for Jackson, as he is a versatile player that can be fitted into a number of different positions and formations.

The situation surrounding the Croydon-born youngster is that, despite possessing bags of talent, he often disappointed when featuring last season, especially in the league, where, in 20 appearances, he did not score or assist at all, and this has left question marks over whether he is ready to feature for the Dons in what could be a pivotal season for the club.

He has recently been awarded a new two-year deal at the club so it feels likely he will be in and around the squad for 24/25, but having taken a while to integrate Sasu into the team in the first place, it remains to be seen whether is Jackson prepared to place trust and faith in the youngster\s abilities going forward, when he could dip into the market and sign up more experienced players.

Wimbledon have already signed up one winger that plays in Sasu's natural position on the left wing, in Myles Hippolyte, and if Jackson deployed the 6ft 4in attacker on the right-hand side, as an inverted winger, he would be facing stern competition from Josh Neufville and James Tilley for the position.

Jackson is left with a dilemma over whether to loan him out or keep him around the first team, with the latter running the risk of leaving the youngster short of minutes and subsequently frustrated.

The ideal solution to this situation is to trial Sasu in multiple positions down the left, or even up front, during pre-season. Admittedly he will have stiff competition, yet again, for a place up front, with the Dons having recently added to their three current strikers, by bringing back Joe Piggott to the club on loan from Leyton Orient.

However, as a few fans have speculated on social media, Jackson could be trialing Sasu in a left wing-back role in a 3-5-2 formation during pre-season, with Wimbledon not currently having any left-sided full-backs/wing-backs contracted to the club, having sold Jack Currie and seen a new contract offer to Lee Brown rejected.

He will certainly be one that Dons fans keep more of an eye out for, with many fans taking a liking to him already and wanting the young winger to do well considering the new contract offer, but pre-season will be the defining factor for the former Norweigan youth international as to whether he is ready to help Jackson and the club achieve their dreams this season or would be better on loan elsewhere.