Neilson pleased to have ironed out Dons' defensive mistakes

Paul Downing is looking more settled at MK Dons

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MK Dons are becoming harder to score against, according to Robbie Neilson.

Having conceded just 11 goals during his two months at Stadium MK, Dons' defensive frailty seems to have become a thing of the past.

A stable centre-back partnership of Joe Walsh and Paul Downing too seems to have settled, with Downing in particular alleviating fears among fans as he builds some consistency.For Neilson, he believes preventing teams from scoring is equally as important as scoring at the other end, and says his defence has a new understanding of how he wants them to play.

He said: "We've worked a lot on the defending and stability when we haven't got the ball. Their job isn't to score, it's to stop the other team scoring.

George Baldock putting himself in the way against Oldham

"It gives the defence more understanding, but also gives the strikers an understanding that if a move breaks down, they haven't got to chase and go end to end.

"Against Bolton, they only had one shot on target.

"The stability is there, we just need to develop it.

"I'd love it, the fans would probably hate it, if we scored early on and had the strength and confidence to see out the rest of the game. We'll get there eventually, but it shows we're solid and we won't get beaten."

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