Tore Pedersen has urged Wimbledon fans to have faith in the club's Norwegian revolution - even though the Crazy Gang are flirting with relegation.

The Norwegian international defender, out with a knee injury for most of the season, reckons owners Kjell Inge Rokke and Bjorn Gjelsten will soon have the Dons heading in the right direction.

And Pedersen has backed boss Egil Olsen, who brings his beleaguered Dons to Valley Parade tomorrow, to sort things out after a torrid first season in England.

Pedersen said: "If we stay up, which I feel we can, there are going to be major changes both on and off the field and in the future.

"I get the impression the new owners are not happy with Wimbledon being seen as maybe a second-class club compared to other London sides like Arsenal and Chelsea. Both Bjorn and Kjell want to compete at the highest level.

"They have both been extremely successful in everything they do and are two of the richest men in Norway.

"Some people have said they are not passionate or have no interest in football. That is rubbish.

"They are both winners and want to see Wimbledon up there with the biggest clubs.

"That is why I feel it is important that Egil is given a little bit more time and patience to show that he can and will get things right on the playing side.

"There has been major change during the last few months and it takes time for things to start working."

Despite Pedersen's optimism, problems have been mounting for the Dons, whose defeat at Spurs last weekend was their seventh on the trot.

Boss Olsen has come under fire from frustrated fans who were stunned to hear he had left his squad for three days this week in order to pick up a prestigious award in Norway.

Coming in the wake of Carl Cort's reported comments this week it has left the Dons in disarray ahead of their most important game since the 1988 FA Cup final triumph over Liverpool.

Cort said earlier this week: "The main problem since day one has been that we've conceded too many goals, which we never used to do. A lot of players didn't like Egil's new formation. Although if you get used to it, if the players are less confident in the formation and have no confidence in their manager, then they will not perform well.

"We've been in this situation before but it's more worrying this time.

"We have been too defensive. We've ended up having to do lots of defensive work and because we're always on the back foot, we can't get up front to help."

The past week does not augur well for the Dons but City still face a huge battle.

Wimbledon may have gone through a rocky spell but the one thing the club is famous for is pulling together in adversity.

And if the current crop of players can do just that then there may well be hope for the beleaguered Dons.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.