Satisfying afternoon for Williamson after Dons' win over Forest Green

Mike Williamson was pleased to see his MK Dons side show their defensive capabilities during their comfortable 2-0 win over Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.

First-half goals from Max Dean and Jack Payne ensured the points at Stadium MK, moving Dons up to tenth in League Two. But the second-half, while routine enough for the hosts, saw the visitors look the more threatening, despite keeper Craig MacGillivray never really being tested.

Speaking afterwards, head coach Williamson said his side did what they needed to to pick up the points, and stood firm as they picked up another clean sheet.

"We had to show a different side to our character in the second-half, we showed resilience and had to defend well, and had to be tough to beat," he said. "The football we played in patches was really pleasing, we were doing what we were trying to achieve.

"We got the two goals in the first-half, and then in the second, we got into the final third a handful of times and our quality let us down. We had to navigate our way through, Forest Green took more risk, it was a different puzzle in the second-half.

"We had to show many sides of us, and the defenders put themselves on the line. Playing against someone like Troy (Deeney), who is a handful, he understands and has a lot about him. We had a lot to deal with.

"On another day, we could have got a third and that would have put it to bed but overall, it's a pleasing afternoon."

Under the head coach, Dons have only lost once in the league since Williamson's arrival - his first game in charge against Accrington Stanley - with their unbeaten run now standing at six matches, and the side are up into the top half again.

For now though the league position means little to the head coach, who added: "It's irrelevant to me, until the final month or six weeks when I'll pay more attention. For now, it's about watching what we can do better from that game."