Ardley: It’s going down to the wire

NEAL Ardley believes his battling AFC Wimbledon side will need to hold their nerve to remain in League One after being denied backto-back wins.

Marcus Maddison struck an equaliser four minutes after Lyle Taylor looked like he might have secured a vital three points in the Dons’ fight against relegation.

And the late drama left Dons boss Ardley with mixed feelings.

“They have so many threats and we worked hard to make sure we had our shape. By and large, for sort of 99 per cent of the game, we defended to the letter,” he said.

“I was kind of disappointed not to hold on and take three points but it’s still a good point against a good team.

“We are delighted with the performance and can’t ask for any more. I do not think [the relegation battle] will get settled until really, really late. If you look down there, there are some good teams in good form.

“I think it’s a case of trying to hold your nerve.”

The first good chance of the game came after 65 minutes when Peterborough striker Jack Marriott played in Maddison down the right.

His cross came to winger Danny Lloyd, who failed to connect cleanly but Chris Forrester headed towards goal only for Dons defender Barry Fuller to head the ball off the line.

But ten minutes later the visitors struck when centre-half Deji Oshilaja set Taylor free down the right and the striker fired low across goal and past home goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

The celebrations, though, did not last long as Marriott slipped in Maddison and the forward placed the ball past visiting goalkeeper George Long to make it four draws in a row for Posh, who are fighting it out for a play-off spot.

Posh boss Grant McCann said: “I thought we were good in the second half. We believed when we conceded we could go and win the game. We had chances.

“First half I thought we were lacklustre and lethargic. I did not think we were moving enough – too many players were walking. It was not an acceptable firsthalf performance.

“We still have 13 games to go. We have got to stay strong – we are fully believing we are going to get there. There’s going to be ups and downs but the good thing for us is we are not getting beaten.

“But we have to turn some draws into wins.”

The result leaves Dons two points above the bottom four, while Posh are now six shy of the play-off spots with two games in hand.