No reason to panic at Stadium MK insists Williams

Defender George B Williams says MK Dons need to dust themselves off and remain calm after another defeat at Stadium MK.

Dons went down 1-0 to Port Vale on Sunday, extending their winless streak at home to 11 games.

Williams though knows what it takes to get promoted from League 1. Last season, Barnsley were rock bottom of League 1 at Christmas but put together a remarkable run which not only saw them to Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, but also triumph over Millwall in the play-off final to make it to the Championship.

Playing in both finals in the capital, Williams insists Dons have nothing to worry about, despite sitting 12th after 12 games.

Williams helped Barnsley to Wembley twice last season, earning promotion to the Championship and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy

"Barnsley were around the bottom at Christmas and got promoted so it's nothing we can't fix," he said. "It's not like there are 10 games left - there's still a season to play and if you can put a run together, we can fly up the table.

"All we can do is pick ourselves up, work hard, get behind the gaffer and each other."

It would be another frustrating afternoon at home for Dons. After hitting the post, Dean Lewington gave away a penalty, though despite David Martin's save, Alex Jones was given a second bite of the cherry to fire Port Vale ahead against the run of play.Dons continued to be on the front foot, even hitting the bar in stoppage time, but couldn't find a way past Vale's defence as they got back in number.

For Williams, making his second start since injury to George Baldock ruled him out for around two months, Dons have deserved more from their performance at home.

He said: "We're playing really well here, but it's just football. If we'd got the first goal, it would have been a different game. After they scored, they put everyone behind the ball. We'd be worried if we were playing badly at home, but the performance are there. It'll pick up.

"The performance was good on the whole, there were just a few errors here and there. Football is a strange game.

"It's tough because we played well and did everything right. We were just unfortunate for the goal, and they say behind the ball, and it felt like we were playing 11 defenders. It's still only early in the season, we've just got to keep going."