Pre-season: Cheltenham Town 0-2 MK Dons

Two goals in seven second-half minutes ensured MK Dons were victorious in their final pre-season game of the summer, beating Cheltenham Town 2-0.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing fired home the opener barely a minute after the restart after Dons controlled the opening 45 minutes, before Aaron Collins’ instinctive finish on 52 minutes took care of the result.

With many of the side having played against Kuwait SC a day prior at Woughton, it was still a strong side which took to the field at the EV Charger Points Stadium. It was a game Dons made hard work of when the sides met back in February, escaping with a 3-2 victory which was far closer than it should have been on the day, but after a hectic opening 15 minutes, things settled with the visitors looking by far the better.

Both sides came out the box fast, and it could easily have been 2-2 inside the opening ten minutes, with Shaun McWilliams and George Miller both causing problems for Craig MacGillivray, while Sam Nombe and Aaron Collins both should have done better for Paul Warne’s side.

Dons have been pretty goal-shy so far in pre-season, and that cutting edge was still lacking when they took control of the game after the early knockings, but neither Nombe nor Collins could beat Wyll Stanway as the keeper made solid stops, while Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Ryan Wintle both fired off target - the latter fizzing the best move of the first-half just over the bar after good work from the front two to work him room 12 yards out.

The lack of goals in pre-season was something of a concern for Dons heading into next week’s opener against Norwich City in the Carabao Cup, but two goals in seven minutes at the start of the second-half helped alleviate those fears.

First, Mendez-Laing converted into an empty net after Collins intercepted in the Cheltenham box, catching keeper Stanway out of position before teeing up the Guatemalan to score.

Then Collins himself got on the scoresheet with a cracking strike on 52 minutes, seeing Liam Kelly’s ball, initially aimed for Ben Wiles, pop into his path to bend right-footed in off the post.

With substitutions looming, Dons looked to put the game to bed but Curtis Nelson, who scored his first goal for the club in the league fixture, headed just over.

Dons made wholesale changes on the hour mark,with only keeper Craig MacGillivray remaining on the field, though the flow of the game went with it.

The hosts were afforded a couple of half-chances, with former Don Joe Tomlinson testing the keeper with a low drive, while Jack Sanders denied Miller a chance to shoot after Dan Crowley lost possession.

Cheltenham missed a glorious chance to end their pre-season campaign with a goal two minutes from the end when Sopuru Obieri, who had barely been on the field for a minute, somehow put the ball high and wide from inside the six-yard box.

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Nelson (Burke 60), Goode (Ekpiteta), Bramall (Lewis-Burgess 60), Jones (Troso 60), Kelly (Sanders 60), Wiles (Crowley 60), Wintle (Singh-Hurditt 60), Mendez-Laing (Kazungu 60), Collins (Barlaser 60), Nombe (Paterson 50)