AFC Wimbledon face a second long trek north in the space of five days, and boss Neal Ardley says his side are being made to suffer for it.

Tuesday night’s trip to Accrington Stanley clocked up 500 miles, while tomorrow’s jaunt to York City is another 480-miile round journey.

On the flip-side, the League Two clash will be York City’s second consecutive home game – meaning they have racked up… zero miles.

Ardley said: “Knew it was going to be a tough week, at the start of the season you check the fixtures and this week stood out.

“The people who sort out the fixtures don’t realise that the likes of Barry Fuller and George Francomb would not have got in their beds until 5am after the Accrington game.

“No-one can tell me that that is not going to hinder their recovery rate compared to the York players who may have been tucked up in bed by midnight.”

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He added: “On a Saturday you have the option of getting a train and making the journey a lot better and being home by 9.30, but on a Tuesday night there are none of those options and you’re in bed at 5am.

“You’re almost trying to start the recovery process of your players with sleep deprivation, which is not a good way to start.

“There is massive disadvantage to us compared to York who have two home games.”

But it is not only the Dons who are being given the run-around by the fixtures computer, and Ardley has sympathy with his rivals in south-west England.

“I saw that on one Tuesday night [August 18] Yeovil went to York City, and Carlisle United were at Plymouth Argyle,” he said.

“Why can’t that be changed to Yeovil and Plymouth playing each other?”

Ardley is without Andy Barcham and James Shea for the York match, although everyone else is available.

York City are struggling towards the bottom of the table having won just two out of 14 games, and only one at home.

Their last win came at the beginning of September when they beat Newport County 3-0 in Wales.