AFC Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley said his team were the victims of daylight robbery during Monday’s 1-0 home defeat to Barnet.

However, despite being pulled back into the League Two relegation fight, Ardley takes solace in his belief that his players are “doing nothing wrong”.

The Barnet defeat, and a 1-0 reverse at Rotherham on Good Friday, leaves the Dons hovering just three points above the drop zone with four games remaining.

But while those on the terraces are biting their fingernails over the run-in, Ardley claimed his charges are well prepared for the fight for survival to go to the wire.

He said: “It has been that way for the past 10 or 15 games.

“It’s true, the fact there are only four games left can suddenly creep up on you, but we’ve known it will go to the wire for some time.

“About 12 games ago we chatted with the players and said that, within three weeks, we’ll have about five games left.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t go into that run of games regretting anything and we haven’t in the way we’ve played or picked up results.”

The double Easter defeat has quickly eradicated memories of a run of two defeats in 10 games, but Ardley claimed there are things to be happy about.

He said: “There is a downer at the moment because we got to 48 points prior to the Rotherham game and everyone had a smile on their face.

“If you had looked back in January and said that, with four games to go we’ll have 48 points, you would have happily taken it.

“The mood has just swung the other way over the Easter weekend.

“But we’ve told the players they are doing nothing wrong, and we’re mentally and physcially strong enough to know we’ll survive.”

Against Barnet, the Dons had 14 shots to the visitor’s two, and committed six fouls to Barnet’s 17.

Ardley said: “It was daylight robbery. Anyone at the game would tell you we battered them.

“We had a goal disallowed before they took the lead, and then Jack [Midson] missed an instinctive header right at the death which he would normally have buried.

“It is not nerves, it was an instinctive thing. But on these fine lines matches are won and lost.”

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bristol Rovers, Ardley has a selection headache of the good variety, with Will Antwi, Pim Balkestein and Sammy Moore all available again.