Dons boss Neal Ardley blasted the officials following AFC Wimbledon's 2-1 defeat at Stevenage on Saturday.

Ardley reckons the penalty for Stevenage's winner was simply an accidental coming together between Ade Oshilaja and Dean Wells and should not have been given.

Salt was then rubbed into the wound a few minutes later when appeals for a Dons penalty, after Ade Azeez appeared to be felled in the area, were waved away.

Ardley said: “Theirs was definitely a generous penalty. It was a brave decision to give it. It was a clash of heads between two players who were both looking at the ball.

“And for our penalty that wasn't their player didn't even look at the ball, he went straight through the back of Ade.

“The officiating of the whole game was awful. I've got to be careful as I don't want to get into trouble, but the ref was actually giving us bad decisions to cancel out the ones given against us.”

Ardley nevertheless backed Oshilaja, who only joined on loan from Cardiff 48 hours before the game, to bounce back and show Dons fans what he is capable of.

He said: “It's tough on him, but Ade will put it behind him. He's quick and strong and like a Rolls Royce in one-on-one situations. He also knows the game at this level having played on loan at Newport last season.”

The defeat meant a memorable week for the club, which began by giving Liverpool an FA Cup scare in arguably their biggest ever game, ended on a low note.

Ardley added: “It was a difficult week emotionally and physically, and I told the lads to make sure they were ready for a League Two battle, which they were. They gave everything.”