Terry Brown admits Danny Kedwell’s return to fitness cannot come quickly enough as AFC Wimbledon look to maintain the pace in the Blue Square Premier play-off race.

A Dons team shorn of the 18-goal striker saw their six-game league unbeaten run come to a halt as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat at Hayes & Yeading last Saturday.

And with Wimbledon having also drawn a blank in the 0-0 stalemate at Stevenage the week before, Brown is hopeful Kedwell shakes off his foot injury sooner rather than later.

He said: “We have the most prolific partnership in the league with Danny Kedwell and Jon Main but take Danny out of the equation and it makes a massive difference.

“Jon is a great striker and has got goals this season but he looks a different player when he is alongside Danny as they work so well together.

“The truth of the matter is we are still not scoring enough goals, and we have to find ways of putting the ball in the back of the net when Danny is not there.

“We are still lacking goals from other areas - I thought we had that solved when Luke Moore started chipping in from midfield but with him injured we have taken a step back.

“I am still waiting for the back four to step up as well - this enforced break has come at a good time for us injury-wise and we need to refocus our efforts.”

The Dons hope to be in FA Trophy action this weekend when they host Altrincham.

And Brown will certainly be looking for an improvement on their New Year’s Day efforts at Hayes, which came mere days after the Wimbledon boss was named Blue Square Manager of the Month.

He said: “I suppose you could say it was typical after I got that award, but I think it was more of a case of them really being up for it after the Boxing Day game.

“They are on a good run and we were hardly playing the worst team in the world.

“Even so, we did not perform well and it was a poor game overall.”

Teenage striker Peter Rapson made a late substitute appearance as the Dons looked to save the game, and Brown is expecting good things from the 17-year-old as time progresses.

He added: “Peter had a taste against Stevenage and I had no problems putting him on against Hayes.

“He will be a very good player and he has done really well in training.

“He is an extremely talented young man and we all look forward to him making his mark.”

AFC Wimbledon’s next three matches: Jan 9 Altrincham (FAT, h), 11 Tooting & Mitcham (LSC, a), 16 Mansfield Town (h)