Manning did not lose sleep over talk of his job safety at Dons

Liam Manning admitted he didn’t feel under pressure to get a win on Tuesday night against Charlton Athletic, despite MK Dons’ poor run recently.

The 2-0 win was Dons’ first since the 2-1 triumph over Oxford United in mid-September, having gone five in League One without even a point, sinking to the foot of the table.

The win at The Valley sees Manning’s side remain in the bottom four, but the much-needed points and morale coming with it mean Dons head into this weekend’s game with Cheltenham Town a little more upbeat than they have recently.

While some were questioning whether Manning would be long for the job after the poor start to the season, the head coach admitted he wasn’t losing any additional sleep over the rumour mill.

“I don't sleep well anyway,” he said on Tuesday night. “All my energy has to go into the players, and creating a culture for us to get better.

“We've done a terrific job of keeping things consistent and level, not getting emotional, and that's what will hopefully get us out of the sticky period we've had.

“The challenge now is to continue the momentum. It's a benchmark in certain areas tonight, but we have to get better.”

Manning has often this season said his side have looked good in certain areas but failed in others. At The Valley though, he felt more of those puzzle pieces were in place.

He continued: “In terms of bringing everything together, we showed signs of it in the first 20 minutes, defending well and using the ball well. We had good spells where we controlled the game with the game.

“We soaked up a lot of pressure at the start of the second half too. But getting pinned into a 4-5-1 made us really dangerous, with Barry and Holland causing real problems on the counter.

“There was a lot more control in phases. And now we have to build on it.”