Ex-Dons boss Dave Anderson did AFC one massive favour when he recommended James Shea to the current man in charge.
Shea was at Harrow Borough with Anderson last season, but gave AFC the nod on the best keeper at that level he had seen.
One closed-doors game later and Shea was in the reckoning, as Neal Ardley described it.
In the 1-0 win over Southend, he was the man who made the difference with two tremendous saves that kept Dons slender lead intact.
“We played him in a behind closed-doors game,” said Ardley, “and I was impressed. He had won all the honours with Harrow last year.
"But I told him and Ross Worner, ‘I’m going to be totally fair with the pair of you. Ross has got the number one shirt and I’ll decide in pre-season,’ and Sheasy edged it and was outstanding against Southend.”
A George Francomb free-kick on the hour won it, but Ardley insists it was the character in the side that gave them a third win on the spin at Roots Hall.
Ardley said: “We’ve got our bogey teams as well: Accrington and Oxford come to mind.
“I didn’t think Luton really threatened us as much on Saturday: Southend did.
“We were hanging on until half time. We tried to get higher up the pitch, but they pushed us.
“Callum Kennedy is still trying to get match fit. He had cramp in his hamstrings but carried on.
“Sean Rigg was phenomenal. How many times did he run us out of trouble?
“And you can’t come here and out-play a good Southend team, but we dug in and it wasn’t the greatest of performances, but it was a great win.”
