One week ago, Neal Ardley had a plethora of centrebacks from which to choose, but now the Dons boss is struggling to plug a gap.

Having allowed Alan Bennett to leave for a return to Ireland, Ardley has lost Will Nightingale to injury and Mark Phillips, after his red card in the 0-0 draw at Burton Albion on Tuesday night, to a three-match suspension.

Add the continued absence of the injured Jake Goodman and Andy Frampton, and Ardley, with only Adedeji Oshilaja left, has admitted a dip into the loan market is essential.

He said: “It’s been a strange five or six days for our centre backs.

“Jake is about three weeks away from coming back, Mark is suspended for three games, Will is out for the rest of the season probably because he needs surgery on his knee, and Benno has gone back to Ireland.

“There was a point when Benno was fourth or fifth choice, but he would have been in the team now.”

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He added: “Jake is closest to a return, so we’ll need to get someone in and that would suit us better than mixing the team around.

“We’re working on getting someone in ahead of the weekend.”

Ardley was unimpressed with the referee at Burton, suggesting Dons did not get a fair rub of the green – however, they will not be appealing Phillips’ red card.

Dons go to Shrewsbury Town, the new leaders of League Two, this weekend meaning Ardley's men would have played the two different table-toppers inside five days. 

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Ardley said: "I told the players that if we could get a result against Burton Albion, chances are we’d be playing the league leaders this weekend as well.

"We’re all looking forward to it and are excited by the challenge, every footballer wants to play in the big games."

He added: "To me, Shrewsbury Town are the best team in the league, but there is still very little difference between teams at this level.

"It’s just a question of who can maintain the consistency, and Shrewsbury have that little extra."