Dons' style 'felt alien' to keeper Nicholls

Lee Nicholls admitted he was not comfortable with Russell Martin's preferred style of play when he first took over.

'Playing out from the back' looked risky in the early stages, with neither the keeper nor the back four looking especially confident when put under pressure so close to their own goal. But now three months into the process, Dons look much more at ease with it, even if some of the crowd still aren't.

For Nicholls, it has been a difficult transition and admitted it was a strange way of playing early on, but he is far more adept to playing that way and feels it is all coming together.

"Playing out and sometimes stepping into midfield, between the two defenders I found a bit alien at first but I've enjoyed it since getting used to it," he said.

"There was at the beginning because I wasn't used to it! But now I'm into the swing of things, I'm, always looking for the next pass. I know now if there's a man on me, there's a spare man to pass to.

"It's not all on me, it's a team game and that's what we're brought into now. We're playing for and with each other. We trust each other to get the ball, and the next person is finding the angle for the next pass.

"What we've done well recently is doing the next thing – making sure the next pass is the best it can be."

With a lot of praise directed towards midfielder Jordan Houghton for helping initiate Dons' play, manager Martin highlighted how much Nicholls has improved too in getting the ball rolling at the back.

He said: "Lee is physically and mentally in better shape. He's really brave, taking time on the ball, dictating things and he starts it for us. We've got a really good goalkeeper at this level. I think he enjoys it too.

"They have made a few tweaks to Lee's game which have been big for us, both in and out of possession. He gives confidence to the back four, his body language and communication has improved ten fold. They spend a lot of time in the video room, going through things. Dean Thornton has really bred that in them."