Neal Ardley hailed 10-man AFC Wimbledon after last night's hard-fought 0-0 draw at League Two high-fliers Burton Albion.

Mark Phillips was shown a straight red card 25 minutes from the end against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's team following an off-the-ball altercation with Stuart Beavon.

Alfie Potter almost scored inside 10 minutes and at the other end James Shea saved from Beavon and Lukas Akins to deny the Brewers a seventh straight home win.

Adedeji Oshilaja was again impressive at the heart of the defence as the Dons stretched their unbeaten run to four.

Newport County reaction: Ardley won't have a pop at penalty failure Akinfenwa, because he's too big

Ardley told Dons Player: “It was a tough evening in many ways and I have to be careful with what I say.

"It’s really hard when you prepare your team perfectly for the game, but certain things go on that you cannot do anything about.

“Other than a few long range shots they never really threatened. In the first half they had territorial advantage and we never quite got to grips with how we were trying to play." 

He added: "In the second half we tinkered with things a bit and we had the best chances in the game. They pressed to get a goal, but we had the better opportunities."

Dons, who moved up to 11th on the back of the single point, go to top of the table Shrewsbury Town this weekend, looking to extend their unbeaten run to five games.