Williamson hails his players after Dons beat leaders Mansfield Town

Mike Williamson praised his players after they put in a 'massive shift' to beat league leaders Mansfield Town on Tuesday night.

Taking on a side who had only lost once at home all season prior to kick-off, Dons had to come from behind after Stephen Quinn scored a rebound when Michael Kelly saved Lucas Akins' penalty. The lead, taken on 15 minutes, would last just five though with the excellent Alex Gilbey firing in his ninth goal of the season.

Matt Dennis, making his first league start since October 7, then bent in the winner nine minutes into the second-half as Dons moved within two points of the top three.

"It was a fantastic game, with two good teams," said Williamson afterwards. "You could see from the first whistle, we both wanted to win the game. We showed every part of our character, wanted to get the ball down as much as we were allowed by a hard-working Mansfield team. We put bodies on the line as well. For me, it's a good response but that's what we're all about.

"You have to respect who we're playing, and they're top of the league for a reason. The intensity they play with, the desire to run and the quality of player they have says that is where they are meant to be."

He continued: "We focused on our game, where we knew we could hurt them, but credit to the boys, they had to do that on the pitch for 95 minutes, and put a real shift in.

"The lads were hurting from the weekend and channelled it in the right way. We'll keep our heads down and keep grinding. It was massive, and the lads who came off the bench added to the game too. We'll need everyone in the club in the run-in now."