Whether Neal Ardley and a broken record player sound alike is open to debate, but the Dons boss admits he could well be turning into one.

After Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Northampton Town at the Cherry Red Records stadium, a match in which the Dons squandered at least three golden chances to put the Cobblers to bed, Ardley was desperate to give fans something different to read.

However, following on from a 2-0 defeat at Luton Town on Saturday, the Dons sit 16th in the League Two table and, moreover, have not managed one clean sheet in 12 games in all competitions.

At the other end, it would seem the effort is there without the finishing touch.

Adebayo Azeez made the most of a Zander Diamond howler in defence to put the Dons ahead, but their Achilles heel struck when John-Joe O’Toole headed the Cobblers level from a corner.

The Dons had 17 efforts on goals to the Cobblers’ four, but Azeez and Lyle Taylor missed fine chances to retake the lead.

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Ardley said: “I don’t want to sound like a record player because fans are going to read what I say or listen to what I say and say ‘we’ve heard it all before’.

“We try, we work hard, we try to be attacking, try and get at teams.

“We have had 17 attempts at goal and they have had four.

“We work hard at our defensive set plays, believe it or not, you just need that moment of composure in front of goal.

“It was not just Ade [Azeez] – he has scored his goal and probably missed four others – but you would have put your money on one player getting on the end of Jake Reeves’ beautiful pass to put it away, but Lyle Taylor’s touch was loose and he is technically superb.”

He added: “We have to dust ourselves down, I’ve said that again, and try and put a good level of performance in, but we have got to stop giving away silly goals.”

Worryingly for Ardley, Adebayo Akinfenwa hobbled off just before half-time with a tight hamstring, and the boss is waiting on scans to assess to extent of any injury.

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