Committed defence helps Dons through transition

Jamie Cumming and Harry Darling have been key men for MK Dons recently

While MK Dons went through a lot of change during the January transfer window, the defensive unit has gone from strength-to-strength.

The back-three of Dean Lewington, Harry Darling and Warren O’Hora has been largely unchanged for a year, but the departure of Andrew Fisher saw new keeper Jamie Cumming arrive last month.

Since the Chelsea keeper’s debut though, Dons have kept five clean sheets in 10 matches, most recently against Bolton on Saturday.

“We had to transition a team in January, but we’re defending really well,” said head coach Liam Manning.

“We’re compact and didn’t offer up too many chances either. But it all starts with their attitudes and it helps with a group who are fully committed like that.”

“I think it’s five clean sheets in eight, I can’t remember - I heard the centre halves talking about it earlier!” Scott Twine added. “In any team, the defence starts from the front. We’re hard to break down and we’ve been really good at that lately.”