Players deserve all the credit as Dons claim win over Swindon

Mike Williamson insisted MK Dons’ back-to-back league wins are a result of the players more so than his tactics.

Saturday’s 3-2 win over Swindon Town was less controlled and dominant as their 4-1 midweek triumph over Bradford City, but saw Dons climb back into the top half of League Two, having sunk to their lowest ever league position of 18th just a week ago.

Max Dean opened the scoring for Dons six minutes before half-time with his sixth goal of the season, but the hosts were pegged back when Jake Young, who had only been on the pitch for three minutes, found the net for Swindon on 59 minutes.

Parity would last just seven minutes though when Warren O’Hora scored a wonderful left-footed strike, before Alex Gilbey’s tenacity helped Swindon midfielder George McEachran - brother of former Dons midfielder Josh - put past his own keeper with five minutes to go. Frazer Blake-Tracy threatened to make a nervous end when he pulled it back to 3-2 in stoppage time.

Williamson, who has only had a handful of training sessions with his new side since taking over 11 days ago, said his methods have barely had time to take hold during this hectic opening two weeks, and that the players deserve all the credit for hauling the club back to winning ways.

“I'm happy with the result,” he said. “Again, I feel similar to Tuesday, where it's the raw talent and desire of the lads which has got us the win today. There were a lot of things I saw which we can look at and improve on, but two wins on the bounce is fantastic, and the lads deserve a lot of credit for it.

“There have been some phenomenal performances, really brave ones. We have to keep working with them to help them understand what we want.

“Everything we're asking them to do, they're responding ten fold. It shows you the willingness and how together the group is.”

Swindon made life harder for MK Dons

Swindon started the season brightly but have had a wobble of late - not quite to the extent Dons have - but looked every bit a top side in League Two with their performance at Stadium MK.

For much of the first-half, the sides butted heads and matched up man-for-man, meaning very little was coming the way of either front line, which made for frustrating watching for Williamson.

Having watched his side negotiate their way through the challenges Swindon put up though, the head coach saw plenty he liked.

He said: “We had to suffer a lot today which is a credit to Swindon, their manager and how they like to play. They're a lot further along their journey than we are. They made it hard for us out of possession.

“In the first-half, we were so desperate to win the ball back, our decision making was sometimes debatable, but I liked the intensity. We've got to refine this big ball of energy that is the group and keep making progress.”