AFC Wimbledon have proved one thing in particular in League One - they are eclipsing Carlisle United & Crawley Town | OneFootball

The Dons' latest victory has shown that they mean business and are proving everybody wrong

AFC Wimbledon's start to the season has been nothing short of incredible, with the Dons, a side many felt that did not belong in League One, now sat in fourth position and quarter of the way into the season.

And their latest victory against Plymouth Argyle, a fixture that always seems to produce a pivotal result, has proven to those doubters that 'plucky' AFC Wimbledon are back where they belong.

So with the future to look ahead to, what can Dons fans and all the naysayers expect from a side that may seem a little out of position, but are well within their rights to start dreaming now?

Victory at Plymouth proves to League One that AFC Wimbledon are truly back

The 1-2 comeback win at Home Park was an extremely satisfying result for all involved at AFC Wimbledon for a number of viewings.

Firstly, without a doubt, it was pleasing for those that made the 440-mile round trip from South-West London as too often, not only in games at Plymouth, but in countless games across many previous seasons, as soon as the Dons would go 1-0 down very early on, all motivation and desire to win or at least fight in the game sapped away quickly.

However, on a more footballing front, it saw AFC Wimbledon top the form table for the last six games played in League One, with five wins and only one draw compiled during that time. And not only did they do that, but they moved to within one point of first-place Cardiff City too, even if the Bluebirds have one game in hand over the Dons at this stage.

For the Dons to be in this position at this early stage, it more than proves to all other opposition in the division and to all those that follow it too, that, along with the feel-good factor being back at the club, AFC Wimbledon themselves are well and truly back where they belong at this point in time in their short history.

Having previously achieved promotion to the division back in 2016, ironically against Plymouth in the League Two play-off final, the Dons spent the next six years battling as a lower-mid-table side who never put themselves truly among the high reaches of the table. They also never looked likely to go down until a disjointed version of the Dons mired in an internal battle regarding recruitment and other footballing matters went on a four-month winless run that saw the Dons plummet towards relegation.

But now there is a feel-good factor about the club, having learned valuable lessons from that relegation back in 2022, and three seasons of grafting away to find a way out of League Two, and all of that was echoed by one of the goalscorers from Saturday.

In an interview with club media, Omar Bugiel, whose bullet header levelled the scores at Home Park last weekend, said: "In my eyes, it's the best club ever. I love it here.

"We knew that they wanted to play in a certain way. We prepped them for all week and we had to be patient. We managed to get one back just before half-time, which was a great time for us, and then we just thought: ‘just start again, stay in the game, do what we're good at'.

"We know what we're all about and I think today [Saturday 17th] just showed, don't lose your way. We worked hard for it today and that's like a proper Wimbledon performance, everyone's grafting for each other."

Wimbledon can dream of a lofty finish at the end of the 25/26 League One campaign

The points total amassed by the Dons so far, in theory, puts them at halfway to the total needed to typically stay up in this league. In fact, looking at the last two seasons and the points totals it took to finish 20th, the last spot before relegation, the Dons are well on their way with their 25 points so far, as the count has been 47 and 46 over the last two campaigns to finish 20th.

It means that the Dons can really start to look ahead now, instead of over their shoulder.

Typically, the team that has come up to League One through the play-offs has had a tough time of it in the third tier, with that being evidenced by Carlisle United in 23/24, finishing rock bottom, and Crawley Town finishing 21st after an awful start to their campaign.

But the Dons, who have already triumphed against some of the league's more established clubs and lost only by slim margins to some of the so-called bigger, ex-Premier League clubs after putting in stellar performances, look on course to stop them becoming the third club in a row to fall to the same fate.

What perhaps did not help the aforementioned relegated clubs was the lack of a manager in tune with his players from the get-go, as Carlisle chopped and changed managers and Crawley left them struggling after the manager who took them up, jumped ship and was replaced inadequately. However, at Wimbledon, there are no such fears of that happening, with Johnnie Jackson and his backroom team having signed new deals tying them to the club until 2027.

And following the victory at Plymouth, Jackson's words to club media showed he just wants to keep his head down and continue on what is proving to be a surprising but very enjoyable time to be connected with AFC Wimbledon.

Speaking to the club, he said: "It was important that we turned up with the right mentality. It's a great place to come and play football, there's always a good atmosphere and I think the game matched the occasion really. We had to really, really dig in and fight for everything, fight for that win.

"I've got to give them credit, to be honest, because I thought we started the game terribly – the boys found a way to get back in it. Plymouth were far better than us in the first 15–20 minutes. I don't know why. They were just sharper to everything, won duels, won second balls.

"There'll be tough challenges to come. I promise everyone, no-one's in there patting themselves on the back. It's a job well done today because we got the win. We're a good team, but we can still be better. So, it's about just keep doing what we're doing, everyone sticking together and let's see where this takes us."

13 games in, Wimbledon are proving that they are in League One on nothing but merit. With the promise of still getting "better", these are exciting times at Plough Lane, with the Dons looking up.