Neal Ardley is using the weekend off to give his AFC Wimbledon players time to recharge the batteries.

Because the Dons were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, they are without a match this weekend.

The boss said: “Some managers arrange games when they have weekends off because their team have under-performed or for whatever reason, it is difficult to know to play it.

“But for me, it is a long season and we probably could do with recharging the batteries.”

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He added: “We can also work really hard at fitness levels this week, freshen them up over the weekend, and have a good solid week next week – that’s the angle we’ll probably go for.

“They’ve already had one fitness session, and we’ll have another today (Friday). Then go again next week.

“Hopefully, come the Stevenage game, the boys will be able to put in a good performance.”

While the manager knows what the players will be doing, less can be said about himself about how he will spend the spare weekend.

He said: “I have not got that far, I plan the team well, but I don’t plan my own life well.”