Manning wants winning to become at habit

After winning back-to-back games, Liam Manning said it was important to keep up the winning feeling as his side beat Burton Albion 2-1 in the Papa John’s Trophy.

Making eight changes to his side for the game at the Pirelli Stadium, Manning got to cast his eye over some of the second string he is yet to see kick a ball in anger. And after a slow but steady start, the game kicked into life around the hour mark when Dons scored twice in six minutes - through Jay Bird and Harry Darling - to put the visitors in charge.

A Matt O’Riley own goal 18 minutes from time threatened to make hard work of the finale, but it was relatively comfortable in the end for Dons to claim their first win in the competition, and their second win in three days following the 2-0 win over Accrington on Saturday.

“Winning is a really good habit, a really good cultural thing,” said Manning afterwards. “It's nice to come away with the win.

“Winning becomes a habit - got get a taste for it and you like it. For me, we pick a team to win, we prepare in the same way. This was an opportunity to give players minutes, but it was also to make sure they're ready and sharp whenever we need them.

“It was a really good opportunity to see some of the other guys who I've not been able to see in games. I think that contributed to the slow start in the first half, call it rustiness or overeager to impress. But once we got through that, we started to show what we're about and showed more quality in the second half.

“It was a really good opportunity to get minutes and it was overall a good evening.”