At first glance how AFC Wimbledon ended up with nothing against Cambridge United last night is something that would puzzle a super sleuth - never mind Neal Ardley.

The Dons boss was left as puzzled as Poirot, Miss Marple, Foyle and even the late Inspector Morse might have been after dominating the first 45 minutes and tossing away the points in the second.

However, a couple of pointers might pave the way to the culprit.

AFC Wimbledon's Adebayo Akinfenwa reacts to a challenge

There is still no sign of a 90-minute performance.

The opening day saw a good first half hour against Plymouth which brought no reward, while Saturday's win at Crawley came courtesy of a good second period.

Unlike the defeat to Plymouth this was not down to flirtation with a 3-4-3 formation as Ardley reverted to a 4-4-2

No side could sustain the level achieved in that first 45, but the variation in AFC's performance is worrying. As professionals it should not be down to physical fitness, so the finger is pointing at the mental side of things.

Both home games have seen woeful starts to the second half

Dons conceded two goals in the space of 90 seconds after the restart to undo all the good work of the first 45. To make matters worse they were undone by two corners. It was eerily similar to events against the Pilgrims where the killer second goal came from failing to properly clear another set piece.

Scorer: Tom Elliott

Still a lack of leadership?

The two Cambridge goals post half time were a hammer blow, but the worrying aspect was there was no response for half an hour - similar to the Plymouth reverse.

The recruitment of Paul Robinson to join the likes of Bary Fuller and Adebayo Akinfenwa was supposed to increase the experience level to enable leadership, organisation and a capacity to regroup in these sort of situations, but there was little sign of it here.

'The Beast' is not so frightening

Adebayo Akinfenwa might have got to show off his new goal celebration in victory at Crawley, but he appears some way off the man who was terrorizing defences last term. True he had one effort cleared off the line, but for large parts of the game he was preipheral with strike partner Tom Elliott carrying the real menace.

Leaders needed: Barry Fuller (L)

It's not all bad news and certainly not time to hit the panic button.

Cambridge are fancied for promotion, yet for 45 minutes last they were overwhelmed by Ardley's side.