Neal Ardley hopes AFC Wimbledon fightback at Newport proves the fire is still burning in his players

Neal Ardley hopes the spirit his players showed at Newport County goes a long way to reassuring supporters that the fire is still burning in his AFC Wimbledon squad.

Lyle Taylor struck twice in the second period to rescue a point for the Dons after Alex Rodman and Paul Robinson's own goal had put the Exiles in a commanding lead at the interval.

Wimbledon were booed off at Kingsmeadow seven days earlier following defeat to Stevenage and Ardley described the aftermath of that loss as his lowest point as manager.

Off-the-field issues with goalkeeper Ben Wilson, who was sent back to Cardiff after a Twitter spat with supporters, only made matters worse in a disastrous few days.

There was growing dissent among the Dons faithful after the week from hell and Ardley would have been fearing the worst as his team put in a shocking first 45 minute’s work at Rodney Parade.

He didn’t read them the riot act at Newport though, that had been done on Monday morning as he reminded the players of the club’s values, and the second-half display was much-needed.

Ardley told Dons Player: “My overriding feeling is I hope it’s shown a real genuine spirit among the group because that was probably criticised a bit last week. If ever you’re going to show it, you’ve got to show it at 2-0 down.

“We should not have been in that situation in the first place, but it takes a lot of character to turn it around when you are all over the shop. The players deserve all the credit because they came out in the second-half and showed what they are capable of.

“A manager’s job is to try and affect the game from the side. I made a brave substitution at half time and went with three up front. We had a chat in there at half-time and there was no ranting and raving. The only people who could change it were the players and they did that.

“We had the momentum and we could have scored two or three in the first five minutes. We didn’t and they got a bit of control over the game again. We made another couple of substitutions and changed the shape again, but the spirit and commitment shone through.”

Wimbledon, who host Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day, were boosted by the double return of James Shead and Andy Barcham at Newport following lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Jake Reeves was unavailable due to personal reasons and it is not yet clear whether he will be back in the mix for the visit of Rovers.

Newport: J Day, T O’Sullivan (J Donacien 71), M Elito, L John-Lewis, A Hughes, S Bennett, M Partridge, A Rodman, J Barnum-Bobb, O McBurnie (S Boden 71), M Byrne (capt).

Subs not used: J Green, D Holmes, S Barrow, M Taylor, A Collins.

AFC Wimbledon: J Shea, B Fuller (capt), D Bulman, P Robinson, G Francomb, J Meades, A Azeez (T Elliott 70), A Barcham, K Osborne (D Fitzpatrick 78), C Toonga (A Akinfenwa 35), L Taylor.

Subs not used: J McDonnell, C Kennedy, S Rigg, R Sweeney.

Attendance: 2,798 (247 away)

Referee: Kevin Johnson