FA Cup: AFC Wimbledon chief Erik Samuelson proud despite defeat by Liverpool

AFC Wimbledon's efforts in their FA Cup defeat to Liverpool left the club's chief disappointed but upbeat about their future.

The League Two side threatened an upset on Monday night similar to the 1988 FA Cup final, with Adebayo Akinfenwa deservedly cancelling out Steven Gerrard's early header.

There is an infrastructure here capable of being built on and moving to a new stadium with bigger crowds, a better team and even more to invest in players

They even had chances to pull ahead at Kingsmeadow, only for the Liverpool captain to extinguish hopes of shocking Brendan Rodgers' men by curling in a free-kick to secure a 2-1 win.

Chief executive Erik Samuelson said: "What I didn't think would happen at the end is that I would come off thinking that I was really disappointed that we didn't get the result that I felt we deserved.

"There is everything to be proud about and it was such a good display that, to my surprise, I am disappointed."

It was an impressive FA Cup run for the Dons, reaching the third round for the first time since they reformed in 2002.

In 12 years the club have risen from the Combined Counties League to become League Two promotion hopefuls, with their desire to progress highlighted by a planning application to return to their spiritual home in Merton.

AFC Wimbledon are seeking to build a 20,000-seater stadium with an initial capacity of 11,000 to continue the club's growth - something Samuelson is confident of after the Liverpool match.

"I am massively proud," he added. "I think what it shows is that there is fantastic support for the club.

"There is an infrastructure here capable of being built on and moving to a new stadium with bigger crowds, a better team and even more to invest in players. The future looks pretty bright to me."