NEAL Ardley believes his players still have the mettle to stave off the threat of relegation, in spite of a potentially damaging defeat at Bristol Rovers.

A late goal denied AFC Wimbledon a precious point and they are now just two above the drop zone with three to play.

"If we keep our performance levels up, we can do it," said the Dons' boss. "It's in our hands and this team's more than capable of winning the last three games.

"We put in a reasonably disciplined performance and we thought it was a game we could get something from, but we maybe lacked a little bit of quality in the final third and a little bit of belief.

"We're all down, we're all deflated, but we've got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down as stay as strong as we can until the end. It's the time to roll our sleeves up and keep going."

Ardley added: "Today I thought we were marginally the better team in a scrappy, horrible game, but it was the story of our season.

"We put in a hard-working performance, but, typically, we conceded from half a chance and we lost the game. But we won't start pointing fingers. I am sure we can do it."

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