No fear from MacGillivray in playing the risky pass to his MK Dons team-mates

Craig MacGillivray may look like he is taking more risks with his play at the back of late, but he does not see it that way.

The MK Dons goalkeeper has been asked to play a lot more with his feet with the introduction of Mike Williamson's style of play, which has a familiar feel for many supporters at Stadium MK.

Much akin to the early stages of 'Russ Ball' during Russell Martin's spell in charge, and particularly in the Covid lock-out season of 2020/21, deploying a goalkeeper to act more as a centre back than in the relative safety of his own penalty area appears to be where Williamson is aiming for his team to be playing.

For the 30-year-old Scot, who signed in the summer after leaving Burton Albion, making the sometimes risky-looking pass into potentially dangerous areas, putting his team-mates under pressure and inviting unnecessary threat is not as big a concern as it may look from the outside, he said.

"From day one, I've been told to make those passes, those intricate balls into the four, the nine or the ten," he explained. "Ultimately, touch wood, it hasn't happened yet but if it does go wrong, then I'm not going to dwell on it.

"The gaffer has told us that's how he wants us to play, and that there is an element of risk but so far, when we find those passes and get through the lines, we're hard to beat and we create a lot of chances doing it."

Head coach Williamson admitted that, from the outside, those passes out from MacGillivray can look 'hairy' at times, but said with the confidence of the players and the understanding they have of how to play the next pass thereafter is paramount.

He said: "We want to get to a point where the fans might be nervous, but the players understand and know the plan, so they've always got a solution. It can get tense, but I want the lads to have the calmness to incentivise the press and then play through it.

"It's not as hairy as people think, there is method to the madness, but it's a work in progress."