Neal Ardley is having to address an issue that has reared its ugly head yet again to plague AFC Wimbledon’s early season form.

An inability to defend set pieces cost his side the points against Walsall in the League One opener, and saw them dumped out of the EFL Cup at Peterborough Town on Tuesday night.

AFC WIMBLEDON: Sweeney move was perfect for player and club

The Wondering Womble: AFC Wimbledon cannot take Bolton's away form for granted

Ardley has spent hours on the training pitch putting his side through drill after drill to perfect their defence of balls in to the box.

At the end of last season, it appeared to have finally clicked as the central defensive partnership of Paul Robinson and Darius Charles marshalled the Dons to promotion on the back of an exceptional run of clean sheets.

However, Ardley admitted set pieces were causing problems again, and he is at a loss as to why.

“I don’t know why it has happened – we have the same group of players we had last season who defended so excellently and won promotion,” he said.

“Maybe one or two of them have let their standards slips or maybe we are playing better teams, but we will work on it and we know the answer is in our own hands.

“But overall, if I was a Wimbledon fan I would say we’re looking decent.”

He added: “We were not despondent after the EFL Cup defeat, although we were disappointed because we wanted to do well in the cup.

“But we have lost the game through our own mistakes, it is not that the opposition is better than us.

“It was more frustrating, because we look very good going forward.”

Ardley is sweating over the fitness of Chris Whelpdale ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Bolton Wanderers, but apart from that has a fully fit squad from which to select his 11 for the first home game of the season.

AFC WIMBLEDON: Ardley accuses Football League of "devaluing" EFL Cup

He said: “We looked at the Bolton bench on Saturday and a couple of the players there would have eaten up half our budget – you look at that and all the momentum and excitement from last season crashes back to earth.

“But our performances have been exceptional, and I am very pleased with what I am seeing, we just need to defend our set pieces better.

“Overall, if I was a Wimbledon fan I would say we’re looking decent.”