Nicholls does what he's told when it comes to saving penalties

The Dons stopper flew to his left to deny Jordy Hiwula's 52nd minute spot-kick - his third penalty save of the season. Dons, on a losing streak of five heading into the game, claimed their first draw of the campaign in the 0-0, but Nicholls' penalty save sparked the game into life for a much more lively second period.

Having also denied two AFC Wimbledon penalties this season, and only conceding against Wycombe, Nicholls said all the credit should go to Gwinnett, who tells him which way to dive.

The keeper admitted: "Credit has to go to Mel – he works hard on his penalties, I just come in and he tells me what to do and I have to pull it off. I used to do it, but Mel works so, so hard on it. I just listen to what he says and do what I'm told.

"It was a big moment – they always are. If they score, they can kick on and dominate, but luckily we kicked on instead of them.

"I don't know if it was as a good as a goal – we'd have liked a goal, but it is what it is. Hopefully this is a turning point and we can kick on."

After their five-match losing streak came to an end, Nicholls hopes Dons, who face Rochdale and Fleetwood on the road next week, can use the point against Coventry as a springboard after dropping to 19th in League One.

"They're a good side, but there are a lot of good sides in this league," said Nicholls. "We've not had a good run of late but we've come away with a point today, so we have to use this to drive us on and improve our results.

"From today, we can build and hopefully we can win on Tuesday."