Gills had to work through a bit of a hangover early on against Dons

Keith Millen admitted Gillingham started the game against MK Dons with a bit of a hangover after a difficult week at Priestfield.

While he guided Gills to a 2-1 win over his former club on Saturday, thanks to goals from Macaulay Bonne and Scott Malone, it could have been a different story had Dons capitalised on their bright start.

For the opening 20 minutes, according to Millen, who is taking caretaker charge of the club after Neil Harris’ sacking on Thursday, Gillingham were not at the races compared to their opponents, with the former Carlisle boss citing the difficult week as one of the root causes.

However, once they got a foothold in the game, Millen said his side were great value for the points as they leapt from eighth to third in League Two.

“Obviously I'm delighted to win the game,” he said. “I think it took us 20 minutes to clear our heads after a tough week, and a tough couple of days. I was conscious of a hangover from what's happened.

“Then all of a sudden, we became braver on the ball, found a few more passes and broke lines better, and we started to open them up and creat good chances.

“They were brave and defended one vs one at times, but I felt it was only a matter of time before we made the breakthrough.”