AFC Wimbledon manager Neil Ardley admitted there is sense anxiety amongst his squad as they come to terms with the increased expectation on them.

Ardley was speaking after his side's surprise 1-0 defeat at home to League Two strugglers Dagenham & Redbridge last night in which a Ben Wilson error gifted the East Londoners a first win in the league since September 5.

The result provided a stark contract to AFC Wimbledon’s recent form, as draws against promotion chasers Portsmouth and Wycombe formed part of a five match unbeaten run which saw them rise to eighth in table before last night’s fixture.

The Dons’ good recent form has seen a sense a growing expectation around Kingsmeadow, and with his side going into last night’s game as overwhelming favourites, Ardley suggested that his side need to learn how to deal with the pressure.

The Wimbledon boss said: “There was an expectation that we should have won tonight - we talked about it before the game.

“The expectation creates anxiety in your own team. People always expect you to win at home against a team down there struggling, so it was a tough night mentally.

Dannie Bulman and James Dunn challenge for the ball

“We said it wasn’t going to be easy, and we’d have to dig in and get the result, and 75 minutes in we were asking ourselves if we could find the way about winning game 1-0.

“But a couple of silly things happened and we’ve lost 1-0, so we can blame ourselves for not putting them at the sword.”

Despite the Dons’ positive results against teams higher in the table, they have had shortcomings against the teams below them this season.

In addition to heavy 5-2 defeat at home to Morecambe in October, AFC Wimbledon were dumped out of the FA cup by National League side Forest Green Rovers.

Ardley joked: “People always expect us to win - not exactly against us because of our record against teams at the bottom – but they expect us to win.

“We tried to do our jobs, but somehow we went on to lose the game; it was a strange one for me.”

The Dons will have to raise their performance ahead of the trip to Brisbane Road where face promotion chasing Leyton Orient on Saturday.