Clash with league leaders 'the perfect game' for Dons to respond with

Taking on the league leaders in their own back yard is the ideal fixture for MK Dons to overcome their derby defeat on Saturday with, according to Joe Tomlinson.

The 23-year-old said he and his team-mates have to use Saturday's disappointment as fuel for their fire as they head to Mansfield Town tonight to take on Nigel Clough's League Two pace-setters.

Dons have bounced back immediately after their last five defeats, winning at the first time of asking. But they will have their work cut out against the Stags, who have scored 14 goals in their last two home games.

But after the stoppage time heartbreak on Saturday, Tomlinson said Dons must use the pain as fuel to fire them on in their hunt for promotion, beginning with the trip to Nottinghamshire.

He said: "We have to use everything that happened, to channel it as a positive and to use it as fuel for the rest of the season. We've still got a lot of games to play.

"We know how good we are as a team and we know one defeat does not define us. We know we should have done better on Saturday, that's a given, but going to Mansfield, we've got confidence to go and get three points."

He continued: "It's a perfect game to come back to, to put a marker down, and to show we should be fighting at the top.

"They'll be organised, it's a tough place to go and the pitch won't be great. They can play too, they've got both sides of their game down which is different to most teams, but that's why they're at the top. We'll have to show our quality to break them down."