AFC Wimbledon’s bad habits came back to haunt us on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 defeat at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Once again it was the men from South London who took the lead on the day as Josh Davison saw his soft effort hit the back of the net, via the hands of Jonathan Mitchell.
We couldn’t build on the advantage though as a Harrison Biggins header and George Miller's finish put us on the back foot heading into the break.
This noticeably knocked our confidence as we struggled to create much in the way of clear cut chances, but Ethan Chislett came so close right at the death as his effort somehow cleared the bar.
It left our side with a familiar feeling of what might have been as we fell to another defeat on the road.
Johnnie Jackson made three changes to the side which lost 3-1 to Mansfield Town as Will Nightingale, George Marsh and Aaron Pierre replaced Paul Kalambayi, Chris Gunter and Kasey McAteer.
This saw us revert back to a back three, with Marsh and Jack Currie providing width from the wing-back positions.
After a slow start it was the Dons who took the lead in bizarre fashion. Davison was threaded into the box before he worked the ball onto his left foot. The resulting shot was tame but it was somehow allowed to slide in by Rovers keeper Jonathan Mitchell in a moment that he’d love to forget.
The home side bit back almost immediately with Biggins rising highest to head in at the back post. And things got even worse for our side, as Miller fired home unmarked from a free-kick - the Dons ruthlessly punished for failing to react to a smartly worked set piece routine.
This seemed to affect our composure, with the need to dig deep being there for all to see as the two sides headed in at the break.
We switched to a back four for the second-half as McAteer replaced Nightingale. The Leicester City loanee created our first opening of the half – shooting from range as Mitchell scrambled across to save well. Ali Al-Hamadi was next to come close as his shot forced a corner.
Chislett then fired straight at Mitchell as we pushed for a late equaliser, but it was all in vain. A frustrating afternoon for the Dons was summed up in the final seconds when a shot by Saikou Janneh appeared to be goal-bound, but Chislett diverted it over the crossbar.
AFC Wimbledon: Nik Tzanev, Alex Woodyard (Sam Pearson), Will Nightingale (Kasey McAteer), George Marsh, Josh Davison (Saikou Janneh), Ethan Chislett, Ali Al-Hamadi, Alex Pearce, Aaron Pierre (Chris Gunter), Armani Little, Jack Currie
PICS: Paul Thompson (Pro Sports Images)