The shoots of hope emerging from the rubble of MK Dons’ season

We asked for it, and we got it: MK Dons showed signs of life at last. It hasn’t beep pretty, it hasn’t been comfortable, but at this point - who cares?

Three weeks ago, the gloom felt in for the remainder of the season with no light at the end of the tunnel - see the angry rant babbled out from these same keys. Three wins and nine points later, someone has rocked up with a light bulb.

Now four points clear of the drop zone, things feel a lot better. The mood at Stadium MK during the game against Morecambe felt different - the wonder two wins can do - and after Jonathan Leko’s 57th minute winner, everyone would be humming “Oh Milton Keynes...” for the rest of the weekend.

While the high continues into Monday morning though, reality will begin to bite during the course of the week - three wins in a row is great, but the three games were ones Dons should be winning if they are to have realistic ambitions of surviving (what a depressing statement that is) in the division. The wins haven’t been mighty, awe-inspiring or dominant. They have been necessary, they have been ground out, they have been ugly at times.

But now, real test comes - do the team have what it takes to back it up?

No-one is expecting miracles in the next three. Wycombe away, Portsmouth at home and Derby away are by no means gimmies. Expectations of grandeur, going on a swashbuckling six or seven game winning run should be locked down by professionals in white coats, but that’s not to say picking up two or three more points from this next stretch is out of the question - after all, it’s a wonder what confidence can do for a team.

What the last three games and the nine points they have accrued really give Dons, even more measurable than the confidence they can now boast, is the cushion between themselves and the rest.

Cambridge could have jumped above Dons had they won at Stadium 16 days ago. They are now nine points adrift.

Accrington were out of the drop zone with games in hand prior to Sullay Kaikai’s early strike at the Wham Stadium nine days ago. They are now four points back, in the drop zone and have used up their lifelines.

And a win for Morecambe, like Cambridge, would have seen them climb above Mark Jackson’s men on Saturday. Instead, they are four points behind. Focus instead now appears to be settled on Oxford United, with Dons dragging Liam Manning back into a League One relegation scrap and climbing above the U’s in the pecking order.

Of course it’s not over yet, Dons are not out of the woods, there are plenty of games to go, plenty of points on the table, plenty of twists yet to come, they could still get dragged back in... and all the other footballing cliches.

If nothing else though, there is a bit of hope where before there was none. Last time, I urged them to prove us wrong. They’ve started well. Don’t let it slip.