Almost all of MK Dons’ defenders have put themselves on the scoresheet this season

The competitive nature amongst strikers to be top-scorer is not exactly replicated by their counterparts in MK Dons’ defence.

Charlie Goode, Eli Campbell, Curtis Nelson, Jack Sanders and Marvin Ekpiteta have all put their name on the scoresheet this season, chiming in with some important goals over the course of the campaign thus far.

Ekpiteta finished last season with six goals to his name but had to wait until last week’s 6-1 win over Doncaster Rovers to open his account, swiftly doubling his tally with a close-range goal against Swindon Town in the FA Cup a week later.

Still behind Goode’s total of three for the season so far, Ekpiteta said the defensive unit prides itself on any of their members getting a goal, not just an individual tally.

“Not really, we just get told that we have to be a threat at set-pieces,” he said. “And that’s big in every league. We take pride in what we’re doing and trying to get as many goals as we can as a collective.

“We’ve been working on a lot of different things when it comes to set-pieces, so it’s good that it worked today and I got the goal. I just tried to stay alive in the box really, I lost my man, the ball came across the box and I tackled it in. I should have had a second as well, I lost sight of the ball, but I had to hit the target really.

“I usually have little purple patches, hopefully it continues and I can get a good few more.”

While he had to wait a little while to get his first of the season, the defender said his reputation of a goal-scorer towards the end of last term put more pressure on him.

He said: “It wasn’t frustrating, I knew once I got one, that would be it. Because of how I ended last season, everyone was looking to me, expecting me to score! It was only about 12 games, but it’s nice to have that pressure. I know I’ve added it to my game, and I’ll keep trying to chip in.”

Now he is up and running with two for the season, Ekpiteta joked about catching in-form hitman Aaron Collins, who netted his 17th goal of the season against Swindon on Saturday.

“I’m trying to catch him!” Ekpiteta said. “It’s unbelievable, I’m so happy for him. Whenever he gets the ball in the attacking third you know he’s going to do something magic. It makes it a lot easier for us at the back knowing we’ve got something like that at the top, it takes the pressure off us.”