Dons boss Neal Ardley insists they are not limping to the end of the League Two season, but he is wrapping up his players in cotton wool.

A 1-1 draw at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night, following a 0-0 draw against Oxford United at the weekend, means Dons have drawn four and lost one of the past five games.

However, Ardley praised his players’ attitude despite having little to play for.

He said: “Any point away from home is a decent point.

“The desperation to get an away win before the season is out means everyone is a bit frustrated, but the boys are still really going hard.

“The way they’ve trained and the way they’ve applied themselves since we fell out of the play-off race has been excellent.”

It may take a big effort to match that intensity this weekend when Wycombe Wanderers visit the CRRS, as Ardley and his players did not arrive home from Plymouth until 5am on Wednesday morning.

He said: “There was a diversion to get on the M5 when we left Plymouth, which took us an hour, then we got to the M4 and two junctions were closed so we had to divert again.

“The coach driver could not even get the boys who had parked at Slough to their cars before he needed to have his 45 minute break – we had to pull over and it was 4am at this point.”

He added: “That is a concern ahead of the weekend – physically and mentally we’re drained and we need to pick the players up.”

Ardley is sweating on the fitness of Jack Smith (groin), Alfie Potter (groin), Dannie Bulman (foot) and Jake Goodman (hamstring).

“We will be wrapping up some lads in cotton wool, and it will be survival of the fittest come Saturday,” Ardley said.