Both managers heaped praise on their goalkeepers after the battle of League One strugglers Bristol Rovers and AFC Wimbledon at the Memorial Stadium ended in stalemate.

Wimbledon’s Nik Tzanev kept Rovers at bay with fine first-half saves from Luke McCormick and Sam Nicholson before doing well again to keep out a 52nd-minute shot from Jonah Ayunga.

But at the death it was Rovers’ Joe Day who spared his side a demoralising defeat by diving to deny first substitute Ollie Palmer and then Joe Pigott.

Rovers boss Joey Barton said: “We needed our keeper to stand strong at the end and he did so superbly.

“We had already lost six-pointers to Wigan and Burton. It’s vital in games against the teams around you in the table that if you don’t win them, you take something.

“Joe’s saves ensured a clean sheet, which gives us something to build on. We have taken four points from two home games this week, so there is cause to be positive.

“I think we had 18 shots, to Wimbledon’s six, so that is encouraging too. We weren’t at our best in the first half, possibly because of the wind and rain, but we improved a lot after the interval.

“They came strong at the end and overall I thought it was a good League One fixture, which was always going to be tough, with so much at stake for both clubs.”

Wimbledon boss Mark Robinson felt his side might have had a penalty in the closing minutes when Pigott went down under a challenge from behind by Jack Baldwin.

“It was similar to about 15 fouls the ref had given in the game, so maybe we were a bit unlucky,” he said.

“But I haven’t seen the incident again and I am not going to make a lot of it.

“Our biggest problem is creating enough chances to win games and in the first half we controlled possession without offering enough threat.

“We have been working on that in training. In the second half Rovers came at us with the weather in their favour and we had to stay strong for 20 minutes, but managed that period well.

“At the death we had three or four great chances to win it. Picking up points against the teams around us is vitally important, but I feel we are capable of getting something from every game.

“I’m delighted for Nik Tzanev, who has made some important saves for us. He is a young keeper, who has not had enough men’s football because we didn’t get his development right before I took over.

“He had a very good game and I am sure there are many more to come.”