Wearne makes his mark with a brace in win over Swindon

Stephen Wearne marked his full MK Dons debut with an early brace to lead his side to victory over Swindon Town, winning 2-1.

The former Gateshead man capitalised on a defensive error to roll in his first after four minutes, before prodding home the excellent Dan Kemp's cross four minutes later.

While the visitors looked comfortable for the most part, Charlie Austin's 89th minute header - Swindon's first effort on target - made for a nervous end, which saw referee Scott Tallis add two minutes on top of his initial four.

The result moves Dons up to fifth spot, four points from the automatic promotion spots.

After the resounding 4-0 defeat to Bradford City in the week, MK Dons made three changes to the side to face Swindon, notably again in goal as Michael Kelly returned to the fold in place of Nathan Harness. Lewis Bate returned in the centre of midfield, while Stephen Wearne was handed his first start after making three substitute appearances since his move from Gateshead in January. MJ Williams and Emre Tezgel dropped to the bench.

And Wearne would mark his debut in stunning style with a brace inside the opening eight minutes to give Dons the perfect start. His first came when Kyran Lofthouse forced a mistake between Frazer Blake-Tracey and his keeper Jack Bycroft, squaring to Wearne to open the scoring after five minutes.

A simpler finish he couldn't have wished for to open the scoring, but he got it three minutes later. Dan Kemp was given a warm welcome by the Swindon fans when he stepped off the Dons team bus after his stellar loan spell at the County Ground earlier this season, but his cross from the left allowed Wearne to prod home from a yard out to double his and Dons' tally.

Rather than being shell-shocked by their start though, Swindon sought a way back into the game and threatened on a couple of occasions but could not force a chance to test keeper Kelly.

Dons could have put the game to bed on a couple of occasions before the interval, and probably should have had a penalty when Alex Gilbey had his legs swiped from under him by the recovering Conor McCarthy.

The second-half was much of the same, though Dons began to turn the screw to find a third which would have put the game beyond reach. Those chances weren't utterly clear-cut though, with Joe Tomlinson firing a couple narrowly wide.

Returning to his old stomping ground, Kemp shone in the centre for Dons as he pushed on when Wearne was withdrawn. On three occasions he got in behind, making keeper Bycroft work with one shot, before narrowly being caught offside with a well-worked set-piece routine.

But just as Dons looked as though they were going to see the game out in routine fashion, Charlie Austin headed past Kelly with their only on-target effort of the game with three minutes to go, making for a nervy finale which they managed to see out.

Referee: Scott Tallis

Attendance: 8,789 (697)

Swindon Town: Bycroft, Blake-Tracey, McEachran, Khan, Glatzel (Elbouzedi 75), Hepburn-Murphy (McKirdy 55), McGurk (Austin 46), Godwin-Malife, Drinan (Cain 81), McCarthy

Subs not used: Brewitt, Brann, Minturn

MK Dons: Kelly, Norman, O'Hora, Harvie, Tomlinson, Lofthouse (Lewington 66), Payne (Williams 90), Bate (Robson 75), Gilbey, Wearne (Dennis 66), Kemp (Tezgel 90)

Subs not used: Harness, Tripp

Booked: Bate, Khan, McKirdy