Terry Brown has issued a simple ultimatum to his AFC Wimbledon side - beat Eastbourne Borough this weekend or forget about the Blue Square Premier play-offs.

Brown was talking after seeing his Dons side lose 2-1 at Crawley Town on Tuesday night, a result that came on the heels of a 1-1 draw with Altrincham at Kingsmeadow on Saturday.

And the Wimbledon boss admitted that with strugglers Eastbourne next on the menu, it is a case of win or bust for his side.

Brown said: “The simple fact is if we are not good enough to beat the likes of Eastbourne Borough at home then we are not good enough to make the play-offs and that is fine.

“If you look at our remaining fixtures yes we might lose at Mansfield or at home to Stevenage but Eastbourne is a game we should expect to win.

“People keep telling me there are easy games and difficult games but I do not really understand that.

“We lost at Eastbourne earlier in the season and teams like Barrow and Gateshead are great footballing sides.

“Everyone is much more evenly matched this season.

“But the bottom line is a side hoping to make the play-offs must win home games against teams near the foot of the table.”

Brown was once again counting the costs on the injury front after the Tuesday loss at Crawley, with Lewis Taylor damaging medial ligaments in his right leg and set for at least a month on the sidelines.

Steven Gregory also suffered a groin strain and will miss a week, compounding the misery of a Dons defeat that came despite Danny Kedwell’s opener.

The Wimbledon boss added: “In terms of injuries we have had a nightmare season.

“I get one player back and another drops out.

“The one positive though was the return of Luke Moore, when he came on he ran Crawley ragged and looked in good form.

“I suppose in a way we could have our strongest squad of the entire season if we were to go into the play-offs, but we have to get enough points on the board first for that to happen.

“We have put ourselves in a good position and it is up to us to finish the job.

“There is no way the sides around us will win all of their games so if we concentrate on ourselves and win the games we should we will still be there.”

AFC Wimbledon’s next three matches: Mar 13 Eastbourne Borough (h), 20 York City (a), 23 Barrow (h)