Striker Aaron Collins spoke after his four-goal haul against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday

Scoring a hat-trick came with a sigh of relief for Aaron Collins on Saturday.

His third of the afternoon came at a vital time for MK Dons. Having squandered the chance to put the game to bed in the first-half, despite his brace, Dons left the door ajar for Doncaster to get back into the game, and they did when Jordan Thomas nudged home on 64 minutes, threatening to make a game of it.

But Collins’ third, to complete his second hat-trick of the season, five minutes later put Dons back on course for a third win in a row, starting a crazy 20-minute spell as the hosts ran riot to a 6-1 victory.

“It was a good feeling, because it was my hat-trick but I looked at my team-mates and there was a sigh of relief,” said Collins. “We got that two-goal margin again, we could relax a bit and it showed in the last part of the game to go on and get three more goals.

“Sometimes you can score too early, get a bit lackadaisical, but we got that second and we could have for three or four in that first-half.

“Going in 2-0 up, we dropped off a bit too much at the start of the second, but it’s a tough score line. If you get the next goal it’s game over, if they get it it’s game on. We conceded but we knew if we got the next we’d be ok. From there on, we looked really good and probably could’ve got more.”

The in-form front man is now the leading scorer in the country with 16 goals by the end of October. Adding to his two goals in the week against Bromley, the striker said he is brimming with confidence.

He said: “On Tuesday (against Bromley), the gaffer left me on because I was going for the hat-trick and I didn't manage it, today I did. It’s a really nice feeling to get six in two games.

“It’s all about confidence as a striker. When you’re scoring, you feel good and whenever you get a chance, you’re going to take it. Today, it went my way and I had a few more chances really, but I took four of them so it’s a really good feeling.”