Neal Ardley has revealed the moment he realised just what a mammoth task he had taken on as manager of AFC Wimbledon.

The 40-year-old arrived at Kingsmeadow in October with the Dons down at the bottom of League Two and surviving on the scraps of emergency loans and bandaged-up players.

But it was not until the end of November that the reality of the task in front of him and assistant Neil Cox hit home.

Ardley said: “It can be a lonely, tough job being a manager, especially when things are not going well.

“When we got beaten away at Morecambe in November, it was a tough time on the train journey home.

“I thought ‘Wow, the situation of the playing side was worse than I thought’.

“I knew they were a team down the bottom and the league table does not lie, but when I realised how bad fitness levels were, the injuries, the general environment and work ethic of the training ground, along with the players we had at that time, I thought ‘Wow’.

“At that point, we devised a plan. I spoke to Erik [Samuelson] and said we have to try and hang on in there.

Your Local Guardian: AFC Dons

Tough times: November's 4-0 defeat at home to Southend United preceded the eye-opening Morecambe game       SP72027

“I was in no doubt that we would be in the bottom three come Christmas, it was just a case of trying to stay in and around there, that was the important thing.

“Then we could have a good go in the January transfer window, and any revival we were going to make was going to happen from then.

“That was the plan all along, we planned the last four months of the season to the letter and tried to stick to it – and we got over the line in the end.”

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.”