Houghton happy for mistakes to come during pre-season

Callum Brittain's header combined with Lee Nicholls chasing the same ball gave Ipswich the chance for a simple tap in before George Williams brought down Grant Ward for a penalty. Freddie Sears dispatched the spot kick for the only goal of the game at Stadium MK in an otherwise run-of-the-mill friendly game.

With defensive lapses and, at times, catastrophic mistakes costing Dons dearly in recent seasons, Houghton hopes the errors can be eradicated before results begin to count on August 4.

"It's one of those things, sometimes you can't do anything about it," he said. "You look at the mistake from Callum or Lee in goal, but the guy had enough time in midfield to play the ball anyway.

"It's frustrating that that was the one goal, but it's a pre-season game, the main thing is our fitness levels. We're getting close to 90 minutes, we're getting closer to the start of the season and hopefully those mistakes will get ironed out.

"I thought we did well. We looked solid as a team, but it's still early stages and I'm sure the manager will get us scoring goals. We've got new players, and it takes time to gel but the foundation is good. We look solid, tough to play against which is good to build on. The goals will come and the good play in the final third.

"I felt good, hopefully we can get close to 90 or at least close soon. I came in over a week late compared to the other boys so it has been tough to keep up with them but I'm slowly getting there. That sharpness is still a little bit off but I'll be ready for the start of the season."

Returning from Dons' trip to Spain last week, Houghton said the recent heatwave across the UK has made training much tougher, but he believes it will stand the team in good stead for later in the campaign.

He said: "We got a lot of the heat in Spain as well - ot was really humid out there, and when we came back it was basically the same! It has been tough, but as the season goes on, it will make us tougher I think. Our fitness levels will be good come September and October because of the heat I think."