Martin Allen admitted Barnet didn’t deserve anything from their 2-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon this afternoon and suggested a third game in seven days might have taken it out of his side.

The Bees were second best all over the park and a goal from Lyle Taylor after just seven minutes looked to have done the damage before Sean Rigg added a second in injury time with goalkeeper Max Crocombe having pushed up for the Bees’ corner.

Wimbledon had missed a first-half penalty, with Crocombe saving from George Francomb low to his left, but the visitors had just one shot on target – a meek effort from Mauro Vilhete early on.

Speaking afterwards, Allen was candid in his assessment of a sixth straight away defeat in League Two this season.

“I thought it was a disappointing performance today – we didn’t deserve anything from the game," he said.

“After what has been a good week for us – performance-wise – at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday and against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday, today we were second-best all over the pitch.”

Allen continued: “It’s not very often I have to say we weren’t quite at the races. Today I thought we were average all the way through.

“It has given me some things to think about and perhaps the third game in a week maybe it was too much for some of our players.

“We can’t be jumping off the building; we have got to re-build, get them all back together. The last two home performances have been absolutely superb and at Plymouth on Tuesday night we played really well once again.”

The Bees head coach wasted no time in addressing a lacklustre performance in the opening 20 minutes and withdrew Vilhete in favour of Michael Gash after just 23 minutes.

Explaining his decision, Allen said: “We just needed to change it because in the first half-hour we could have been three goals down. Let’s not kid ourselves; it had to improve and we had to do something different.

“They were getting in too easy, we weren’t competing, we weren’t athletic enough, we weren’t mobile enough, we didn’t play enough and right the way through the team we weren’t quite at the races.

“So we changed formation, we changed players, we changed everything to try to spark something. We had a little bit more spark, but the extra yard of pace and competitive nature we have throughout our team was, today, sadly half a yard short from the beginning of the game.”

The killer second came deep into injury time with on-loan keeper Crocombe deep in the home side’s half following a spell of continued Barnet pressure.

But as the Dons broke at pace he was unable to get back and substitute Rigg received the ball in what looked to be an offside position before sliding into the empty net.

Allen, though, was magnanimous and said: “I asked the linesman [about the decision], he explained it to me and I accepted and respect his call. He knows the rules better than I do.

“To be honest with you, the most important thing I have to concentrate on is our team and our club. I can’t worry about linesmen, fourth officials, referees and the tackle on Elliott Johnson just before half-time – I won’t mention all that sort of stuff.

“Today was a disappointment but we have to keep a nice level on it. Underneath I’m bitterly disappointed and can’t wait to start work again on Monday.”

You can read the match report from this afternoon's defeat at Kingsmeadow by clicking here.