In the fight to avoid relegation from League Two, AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley had a trick up his sleeve that was more mind games than on-field tactics.
After the final day drama of a 2-1 win over Fleetwood ensured survival, Ardley revealed that he had visited sports psychologists prior to the Exeter draw two weeks before.
The expert said that, despite suffering three consecutive defeats, Ardley and his management team were doing everything right.
Sign of the times: Ardley’s hand-written sign went a long way to maintaining Dons’ League Two status
However, Ardley still had his concerns, which is when he wrote “It’s in the script, we are staying up” on a sign and stuck it on the dressing room wall.
He said: “We had worked hard after the three defeats to keep the boys’ spirits up and keep them positive.
“We put a positive message on the dressing room wall, and I looked at it and thought, ‘Yes, we’ve been super positive, but what happens if we go a goal down?’
“Everyone, including the bench, thinks ‘Not again’ and I had to change that.
“I thought about what can I come up with that would put everyone back into a positive frame of mind should we go 1-0 down.
“I had to take it away from that one game and that moment – it had to be over our final three games.
“I thought, it’s in the script we’re going to stay up and if we go 1-0 down, that means it is part of the story, we’ll still end up staying up – it is just part of the story.
“I thought it was quite a good thing for the players to cling to. As well as a belief in what we were doing, also believe in ‘OK, s*** happens’.”
The sign had an immediate impact as the Dons came back twice against Exeter, and then came back from 2-0 down at champions Gillingham for a vital point.
Ardley said: “The players embraced it. They came back against Exeter, and then they came back from a bad position against Gills.
“Then against Fleetwood they responded to an equaliser that could have blown them out of the water.
“So did it work? Having spoken to the players, they certainly felt it did, and they said it was the first thing they thought of. I am proud of it. I think it is good man-management and psychology, and I think it helped us all get over the line.”
Meanwhile, Dons skipper Alan Bennett has signed a new one-year deal.
Ardley said: “As soon as the season ended we wanted to keep Alan as a priority before other clubs could come in for him.”
Signed up: Dons skipper Alan Bennett, seen here scoring in February’s 1-1 draw with Northampton Town, has signed a new one-year deal SP73936
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