Neal Ardley believes AFC Wimbledon had Beast power to thank as they boosted their play-off chances with a vital three points at Plymouth.
The Dons kept their hopes of a top-seven finish with a dramatic 2-1 triumph at Home Park as Bayo Akinfenwa ended his long goal drought by netting the winner.
Rated as the world’s strongest footballer by FIFA 16, Akinfenwa made it 2-1 in the last couple of minutes after Graham Carey had cancelled out Lyle Taylor’s opener.
Ardley told BBC London: “It was probably the toughest game we’ve had. I thought they were really good and played a diamond which was hard to play against. We found it hard so to come in at 1-0 up was a really gritty performance.
“In the second half, we knew they were going to come at us, and when they scored the onus was on them to go on and win it. The momentum was with them and we’d felt the front two had run themselves into the ground.
“We felt Ade and B [Bayo Akinfenwa] would be a good pairing up there. We’d have taken a point at that time but that’s why we’ve got five good strikers. B has come on and no other player could have had the strength to power in a header like that.”
The result sees Wimbledon sneak into the top seven at the business end of the season, seven points shy of sixth-placed Portsmouth.
