Wigan boss Ryan Lowe hails Harrison Bettoni after stunning league debut

Ryan Lowe praised 18-year-old league debut Harrison Bettoni after his brace earned Wigan a 2-1 win at AFC Wimbledon.

The Dons opened the scoring when Alistair Smith volleyed in via the bar in the 70th minute.

But substitute Bettoni equalised in the 77th minute with a fine free-kick immediately after coming off the bench before he received Paul Mullin’s through-ball to score an 87th-minute winner.

The victory was Wigan’s first away win this season and Lowe hailed Bettoni for his impact as well as his team’s response to falling behind.

He said: “Harrison will get all the plaudits and rightly so, but I thought we were excellent in the first half. Maybe a little bit like (the 1-1 draw at) Exeter, we didn’t have that clinical edge, but the lads were excellent. Everything we asked them to do, they’ve done.

“We were getting him (Bettoni) on anyway, but when I saw the free-kick from that side, I just knew the quality he’s got. So I said to him to go and take it. The lad’s looking at me going, ‘Really?’

“But I said, ‘Go on, pick a corner and put it in’, and the kid went and did that, so fair play.

“There’s stuff we need to keep working on. I say that all the time and I said that to the group in there because I believe in them.

“They’re good players and this week we’ve had a fantastic week, I must say, on loads of stuff. They’ve gone out and showed that today. They went a goal down, but they’ve got balls and bravery to come back and do what they did.”

After a third consecutive League One defeat, Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson was frustrated his side could not get at least a point.

He said: “I think obviously for us to get in front then lose it from that position is the bit that frustrates me.

“They had their moments and were probably the better team first half, but I thought we were in the ascendancy in the second half.

“We get in front and their lad scores the first one with a bit of worldie, which can happen and you hold your hands up.

“The second goal from our point of view was really poor. To lose it like that is the tough bit for me to take.

“The last league game was really poor and we got a hiding. It was important that we made ourselves a lot harder to beat today and a lot harder to play through, try to frustrate and build our way into the game, and we’ve done that well.

“We got ourselves in front and it was a much better performance, but we have to come out of it with something.”