Recovery delights Lindsey as MK Dons make up for nightmare start

“If you’re going to concede, concede after 20 seconds,” said MK Dons boss Scott Lindsey after his side recovered from a nightmare start to beat Swindon Town 3-1 at Stadium MK on Saturday.

Harry Smith’s header hit the back of the net before some backsides had even hit their seats at MK1 as Ian Holloway’s side took the early advantage, but goals from Kane Thompson-Sommers, MJ Williams and Alex Gilbey ensured Dons would pick up their fourth win in a row, and with it climb into sixth spot in League Two.

“It was a bad start,” he head coach admitted afterwards. “But I wasn't worried, when you concede in the first minute, of course I wasn't happy but I didn't want to rant and rave about it.

“It was so early, if you're going to concede, concede then, after 20 seconds. It's madness to even think it, but we had 94 minutes to play. I had to remain calm. The players responded really well to it.”

From there, Lindsey felt the first-half performance was as good as MK Dons have been since he took over. As Swindon stuck 11 men behind the ball to protect their lead, Dons eventually knocked the door down in stoppage time before adding two more after the break.

Lindsey continued: “I think we played so well in the first-half, the best we've played since I've been here. We were outstanding, and we deserved that goal before half-time.

“In the second-half, I don't think we played as well, we scored some good goals but we could have controlled and dominated more. We sat a little deeper, got anxious and nervy to hold on. But we didn't need to. I get it, we're playing catch-up from what wasn't a good start to the season.

“It looks more like my team - a bit more aggressive and really good with the all today. It's a good feeling for sure.”

Climbing 13 spots too since taking over, with a fourth straight league win in a row too, Lindsey said the streak shows what can be done with a sustained run of form, adding: “We want to achieve promotion this season and we hope we can do that. The effort the players are putting in deserves to put us where we are.

“We were 19th when I came into the job, so to be where we are now is great. And it shows when you string four wins together, you move away from that trapdoor.”