Neal Ardley admitted AFC Wimbledon were lucky to steal a late winner against York City this afternoon.

Jack Smith struck on the stroke of full time to give the Dons the points at Kingsmeadow after Jake Hyde had cancelled out Adeji Oshilaja's opener.

Wimbledon manager Ardley had accepted his team probably deserved nothing more than a point but gratefully clung onto all three when the referee blew his whistle.

Match action: AFC Wimbledon's Bayo Akinfenwa takes on York

He said: “I think 1-1 would've been a fair result and both managers would've said it was a hard-fought point. We've played really well on lots of occasions this season and not got what we've deserved though so I'll that today .

“It was a really tough game and the pitch is causing us problems at the moment, it's the worst that it's been, and every time we play home and the moment it becomes a scrap.

“I told the players at half time that they had to play a scrappy game. It's not how we normally play but the pitch is making it hard for us.

Match action: AFC Wimbledon's Alfie Potter takes on York City

“We dug in during the second half. I want to entertain and I want to wow the fans but today it was really hard because of the pitch.

“I don't like making excuses but that pitch is not conducive to free-flowing football.”

Ardley now has a clear week, free from Tuesday night football for the first time this month, to prepare his team for a trip to Exeter next weekend.