The MK Dons put in a mighty performance against Bromley on Saturday

Match hero Craig MacGillivray praised the character in MK Dons’ dressing room after surviving a late onslaught from Bromley to hold on to claim victory over the league leaders.

Leading 2-0 and cruising at half-time, thanks to goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Ben Wiles, Dons were dealt a blow with 22 minutes to go when Jon Mellish was sent off after Omar Sowunmi’s elbow to Jack Sanders -which earned the Bromley man a booking - sparked a fight in the Dons penalty area.

After seeing their lead cut by Marcus Ifill six minutes later, Dons had their backs to the wall, with keeper MacGillivray pulling off two particularly vital stops to keep the Ravens at bay.

“I thought we were unbelievable,” said the Scot afterwards. “When we went down to ten men, it just epitomises this group. The character in that dressing room is ridiculous, we dig our heels in and dug it out. I know there have been a few times we’ve been 2-0 up and teams have pegged us back, but it’s the character of this group. Everyone knows what is riding on this.

“If the game stayed at 11 against 11, I don’t think becomes quite as frantic towards the end. They’re one of the hardest team to play against with a man down. What a massive three points.

“There is an element, a part of you when your back is to the wall, when they’re slinging everything at you, that is quite enjoying it! When that whistle blows and the aim is realised, it’s an amazing feeling.”

The defeat for Bromley is only their sixth all season, with Dons cutting their advantage to the top to just four points now with three games remaining.

MacGillivray continued: “You can see why they’re at the top of the league - they’re relentless, they know how they’re playing, it’s just a numbers game. They get it wide, put it in the box, do it again and again and eventually something will drop to them in the right spot.

“I think we worked out they have scored 40 goals from set-pieces in one way or another this season, so we knew we probably had the better of them in terms of ability between the boxes, but we have to make sure we defended our box for our lives. They’re going to have chances, they’re relentless in what they do, and they’re effective. They’re a good team, that’s what they do.”