Neal Ardley praised his AFC Wimbledon battlers for coming through a testing night with a goalless draw at high-flying Burton.
Neal Ardley: Happy to take a draw
The Dons boss was unhappy with the 65th-minute dismissal of defender Mark Phillips but was delighted with his side's performance as Albion dropped points for the first time at home since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took charge in November.
Ardley said: "I thought in the first half they were the better team as far as territorial advantage was concerned.
"But we tinkered with things for the second half and in the end I thought we had the best chances to win the game.
"It was obviously tough for us with the sending off. It made it more difficult and forced us to curb what we were trying to do."
In a direct reference to referee Seb Stockbridge, Ardley said: "It was a tough evening and I've got to be careful what I say, but the performance of someone out in the middle of that pitch who was not on my team was not acceptable.
"But I'm delighted with our performance. We defended resiliently, there's a good feel about the camp and we'll go away from here in good spirits."
Burton extended their unbeaten run to a club record of 11 Football League games but surrendered top spot after Shrewsbury grabbed two late goals to win at Carlisle.
The nearest Burton came to a goal was in the eighth minute when Adam McGurk headed a Lucas Akins cross against a post.
The Dons could have stolen the lead when Alfie Potter fired against the legs of home goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin.
And it was Potter who twice had chances to punish some unusually slack Burton defending straight after the restart. The winger fired one shot across the face of goal and saw another effort cleared off the line by Tom Naylor.
McGurk squandered an opportunity to put Burton in front before Phillips was shown a straight red card after clashing with striker Stuart Beavon.
Burton boss Hasselbaink said: "They frustrated us and I imagine they're frustrated as well.
"Both teams had their chances and with a little bit more luck we would have scored one of ours, but it was not meant to be on this occasion.
"It would have been a different story perhaps if the early header had gone in. Then the game would have opened up and the holes would have been bigger.
"In the end, it was always a game of who would make the first mistake or who would take their chance, but none of the two teams could do that.
"Playing against 10 men is always difficult if you have to score. If you're winning already it's a different ball game, but they were able to get nine men behind the ball to frustrate us.
"But it's all credit to my boys that Wimbledon came here and changed their system. It shows we've been doing well of late."