It may have back-fired in the stark terms of a result, but Dons defender Will Nightingale knows that the young Dons stars of the future will have taken another giant step down the experience path on Tuesday night.

Nightingale, Tom Beere, Dan Gallagher, Ben Harrison and David Fitzpatrick all got their chance to impress in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy against Plymouth Argyle.

At 2-0 up it was going so well, until the naivety of youth led to a numbing turnaround and 3-2 defeat.

However, there is no finger-pointing from either the manager or team-mates.

This new crop of players have come through the ranks together, they are friends and friends rally round each other.

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Nightingale said: “At the end of the day, we’ve lost the game to silly errors.

“We’ve been naive, that’s what the gaffer has told us, and it’s true – we have to be switched on at all times and we cannot concede silly goals, otherwise we won’t win football games.

“We all help each other and encourage each other – we know each other well.

“If someone makes a silly little error, we try to bring them on, we don’t get on their backs.

“We’ll tell each other they are better than that and they can improve.

“It’s good to have that in the squad because you’re looking out for each other and you go out as a team into a team sport.

Surrey Comet:

Dan Gallagher

“We’ve known each other for a while, I went to school with David [Fitzpatrick] – we’re a good tight little group.”

The 20-year-old has made only two first team appearances this season, having made four appearances last season until a knee injury curtailed his time in the spotlight.

And despite his man of the match performance on Tuesday night, he knows he and his cohorts must work to earn their chances.

Nightingale said: “The gaffer wants to try to trust us, but it’s not just down to him.

“We’ve got to do our bit and cannot expect him to play us unless we’re performing, so we’ve got to train well and play well.

“He wants to bring in the young players, and he’s shown faith in us to put us in against Plymouth.”

Surrey Comet:

Ben Harrison

Neal Ardley said: “I am not the sort that dishes out telling off for the goals.

“I tell the players they cannot fear making mistakes, and that they lose together and they win together.

“They are young lads who are hopefully the future of this club and we have to make sure that in the future they go ‘Yep, I remember that situation’, and learn from it.”

Surrey Comet:

Tom Beere

Surrey Comet:

David Fitzpatrick