Dons boss Terry Brown has described the thought of losing midfielder Lee Minshull for the season as a massive blow for the club.

The 24-year-old enforcer limped out of Friday’s 3-0 defeat at Luton Town with damaged knee ligaments and is waiting on the result of a scan to learn his fate.

Minshull - signed from Tonbridge Angels in the summer - has been in fine form for AFC Wimbledon this season as they have made an otherwise spectacular start to their Blue Square Premier campaign.

But he limped out of action early in the second half at the Hatters and Brown, who also has injury concerns over defender Sammy Moore, has not ruled out the worst.

“Lee has damaged knee ligaments and we know it is something nasty,” he said.

“We are just hoping it is not anterior cruciate ligament damage, but we won’t know that until we get the results of the scan back.

“If that is the case it is a massive blow for us.

“He offers us something different in the middle, something we haven’t really got elsewhere in the squad.

“He is a big bruiser and is exactly the sort of player you need against teams in this league.”

The Dons may have been humbled by the Hatters to be knocked off the top of the table, but Brown was more than happy with his side’s performance in Bedfordshire.

“Yes, we didn’t get the result but I was really pleased with the performance,” he added.

“I’ve looked at the stats and we actually had more shots on target than they did.

“At this time of year the performance matters as much as the result, and we’ve had a performance in every game so far with the exception of Rushden.

“If we can keep that side relatively injury free then we will be challenging for the play-offs.”