Dons boss Neal Ardley admitted his side were punished for sloppy defending after last night’s 2-1 defeat at Mansfield Town.

George Franomb’s second half penalty cancelled out Lee Beevers’ opener at One Call stadium, but they were hit by a late sucker punch when Rakish Bingham netted in the dying moments.

The defeat, on the back of Saturday’s 3-2 reverse at Exeter City, dropped Dons to 13th in the League Two table, ahead of this weekend’s visit of Portsmouth, featuring former Dons man Matt Tubbs, to the CRRS.

Ardley told Dons Player: “It was a harsh defeat, but we did not see our jobs through and we have lost the game because of it.

“We knew they would be hurting after their defeat and we tried to take the game to them.

“It was a scrappy game on a bobbly pitch but after 15 minutes of their pressure I thought we grew into the game.”

He added: “At the end we have been punished for sloppy defending and we missed four or five one-on-ones.

“If you are not good enough in their box and not good enough in your own box then it will be tough to win.

“We need more quality in front of goal and that seems to be a problem at the moment.”