Moments before his Dons ran out at Glanford Park for the League Two clash with leaders Scunthorpe United, Neal Ardley was confident his side would bounce back from the Torquay disappointment.

It was a bounce back of sorts, leading Ardley to describe the display that earned a 0-0 draw as “resilient”.

Despite the shut-out, Ardley insisted they did not park the bus against a side which has scored eight goals in the past three home games.

The point lifted the Dons to 15th, and it was a positive result that Ardley saw coming before the first whistle.

“The lads were conscious of warming up at a high intensity, because they did not do that against Torquay, they were sloppy in the warm up and then took that into the game,” he said.

“But they came in after warming up on Saturday and I could see they were buzzing.

“They were conscious of making sure their performance output was high, and it is a nice feeling to see them take ownership of that.”

He added: “We did not go there to defend, we played 3-5-2, so we did not park the bus.

“As the game wore on, I felt more and more comfortable that we were going to see it out, and if anything we had some half chances ourselves.”

Dons face host Exeter City on Saturday, followed by Hartlepool on Tuesday.

They will be without Andy Frampton for up to eight weeks with a dislocated shoulder, although Ardley is hopeful of two signings before the end of the week.