Neal Ardley says Dons would be in contention for the League Two play-offs had Matt Tubbs not joined Portsmouth.

However, he also believes the former Dons striker deserves a warm welcome when he returns the the CRRS with his new employers this weekend.

Tubbs joined Dons on loan from Bournemouth in the summer, but called it a day in January to join their rivals on a permanent deal.

He scored 15 goals in his time at Dons, and has six in 14 appearances for the south coast outfit.

Ardley said: “Matt is a fantastic guy and a true professional.

“You get some good players who push the boundaries, aren’t professional and don’t set the right example – but Matt was never late, and he did everything I ever asked of him.

“If you’d said to me we’re going to get a forward who will get us 15 goals, but we’re going to lose him at Xmas, I’d say we’ll take that and we’ll worry about Xmas when it comes round.

“That is what Matt did for us and so he deserves a warm welcome – he did not go for money, which is what people say, he went because he lives 30 minutes from Portsmouth and more than two hours from here, and he just found it too tough.”

He added: “You would not believe how hard we worked to get Tubbs in the summer, and how hard we worked to try to keep him in January.

“If we’d kept him, would we have been near the play-offs – I am sure we would have been.”