AFC Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley is hopeful that Andy Barcham’s injury is not as serious as it seemed, after the winger was stretchered off in the first half of their weekend defeat to Morecambe.

The Tottenham academy graduate went down after a challenge from Shaun Beeley, and was treated for 10 minutes before being carried off with an oxygen mask.

Barcham was due to have a scan on Monday afternoon, with Ardley hoping it will be more of a case of six weeks than a potential season-ending injury.

He said: “You can see it won’t be a case of just a week. We hope it’s more an MCL [medial cruciate ligament] injury than anything else, that’s six weeks rather than six months. 

“The defender caught him late and his knee has buckled from underneath him, we will remain hopeful though.”

Football: Ardley admits problems after AFC Wimbledon are put to the sword

The Englishman will be missed by his side, having scored three and assisted one in his 12 league appearances since moving from Portsmouth in the summer.

Ardley was quick to admit however, that the injury was not the reason for his side’s heavy home loss.

He said: “We can’t look for excuses because of that.

“We failed to deal with their counter attacking, and we looked at that in midweek so it’s disappointing.

"For 20 minutes in the second half, it was whether we could get the third goal when it was 2-3 to them, if we did we could have won but we didn’t and the last two goals were poor on our part.

“I won’t say it’s anything else other than a really bad day at the office, and we’re all hurting.”

Ahead of tonight's (Tuesday) trip to Accrington Stanley, Ardley is also sweating on the fitness of goalkeeper James Shea, who is struggling to shake off a groin injury.