"The best he's played": Trio of Dons praised by head coach

Head coach Scott Lindsey was hugely impressed by the performance of Aaron Nemane during MK Dons’ 3-1 win over Swindon Town.

In one of the most complete performances of the season, despite conceding after 17 seconds, the former Notts County man chipped in with his fifth assist of the season as Alex Gilbey headed home Dons’ third of the afternoon.

Getting plenty of joy on the Dons’ right all afternoon, Nemane’s performance was one of many which stood out, but it drew praise from Lindsey afterwards, feeling it was as good as he has seen from the 27-year-old so far.

“That's the best he's played,” said Lindsey. “We've done a lot of work linking with the inside 10s, bounce passes and getting him down the sides.

“And it was an unbelievable ball for the goal. He caused a lot of problems down that right-hand side. He was out main outlet in the first-half.

“If I've got one criticism of the group, we've played a couple of actions to get him in behind but we don't do it enough. Last week, Sam Sherring played a real searching ball for him, he pulled it back for Gilbey to have a shot. But why are we only doing it once?! Feed him and give him the ball more! But we did that today.”

“I didn’t know loads about him”

Midfielder Kane Thompson-Sommers opened his account for MK Dons when he rifled home the equaliser in first-half stoppage time, capping second brilliant outing in the centre of the park in as many games.

Lindsey admitted the former Halifax man was a relative unknown to him when he took over, but after injuries to the likes of Liam Kelly and Tom Carroll, and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans’ suspension, the 23-year-old has taken full advantage of his opportunity.

The head coach said: “Scoring goals always gives players confidence, and he took it really well, really hammered it in. I'm really pleased with Kane. I didn't know loads about him when I came in, but he's trained really well.

“He's got himself fit, back in and he has been fortunate in a way that there have been injuries in the middle of the pitch, he's got his opportunity and he's taken it really well.”

Stepping into the breach

Goal-scorer MJ Williams also impressed the head coach, stepping in at centre-back after defender Sam Sherring fell ill earlier in the week.

Lindsey continued: “Sam Sherring called in really poorly on Thursday and has been in bed since. So I had to make a decision. We've not got loads of defenders who are fit at the moment, but I know MJ has played a lot there for Bolton.

“People think he's a midfielder, but he can do both, and he does both really well. He was outstanding. He left everything out there as well - he was great on the ball, very, very good.”