Bodin’s late strike sees Dons miss the chance to close the gap

A late Oxford United goal saw MK Dons miss a golden opportunity to make ground in the fight for automatic promotion on Tuesday night as they suffered their second defeat in three days.

Despite dominating the first half at the Kassam Stadium, and results for Rotherham and Wigan in their favour, Billy Bodin’s 87th minute winner dealt another blow to their top-two ambitions.

The Millers were beaten away at Burton and Wigan had to come from behind to draw with Ipswich, leaving Dons still in third, level on points with Rotherham with two games to go.

After news of Mo Eisa's injury on Saturday ruling him out for a lengthy period, Liam Manning was forced into one change to his starting line-up for the relatively short trip to Oxford United on Tuesday, bringing in Hiram Boateng as Troy Parrott led the line. Connor Wickham suffered a knock in training and missed out, while Aden Baldwin returned to the bench having not featured since January.

Having stumbled on Saturday in the opening half against Sheffield Wednesday, Dons made no such mistakes on Tuesday night against Oxford as they dominated the opening half at the Kassam Stadium.

Barely offering the hosts a touch in the opening 45 minutes, the new-look forward trio looked in eager form. Twine, Boateng and Parrott all had half-sights of goal as they squirmed into the penalty area, but the latter should have given Dons the lead on 24 minutes.

Played in by Twine to go one-on-one, he drew out keeper Jack Stevens but rather than rounding him, the Irishman opted to chip it over him, offering the chance for Ciaron Brown to clear off the line.

A rejuvenated Oxford emerged for the second half and closed off all the gaps Dons had exploited in the first which made for a more lively affair if not as one-sided.

In fact, they should have taken the lead when Harry Darling looked to leave the ball without noticing Matty Taylor lurking behind, but the striker wasted his chance by firing straight at Jamie Cumming.

Limited to counterattacks, Dons struggled to make the same inroads in the second period, but came within inches of taking the lead when substitute David Kasumu stormed forward, freeing Kesler-Hayden to fizz a ball across the face of goal just inches away from Conor Coventry's desperate slide.

That chance, nine minutes from time, would prove costly too as Oxford snatched the win six minutes later. Dean Lewington played Josh McEachran into trouble on the edge of the box and when the ball was pinched off his toe, Billy Bodin rifled in at Cumming's near post to secure the points for the home side.

Referee: Anthony Backhouse

Attendance: 9,685 (1,608)

Oxford United: Stevens, Long, Brown, Moore, Brannagan, Taylor, Sykes (Browne 81), McNally, Whyte (Bodin 68), Kane, Holland (Williams 81)

Subs not used: Eastwood, Forde, McGuane, Seddon

MK Dons: Cumming, Lewington, O'Hora, Darling, Harvie, Kesler-Hayden, Coventry, McEachran, Boateng (Kasumu 67), Twine, Parrott (Corbeanu 83)

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Baldwin, Davies, Mason, Kemp

Booked: McNally, Taylor, Bodin, Brannagan