Penalty shoot-out defeat 'hurts' says keeper Nicholls

Lee Nicholls said the agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to Burnley was heartbreaking for the MK Dons dressing room.

Leading since the 29th minute through Cameron Jerome's header, Nicholls withstood shot after shot from the Premier League side, and it looked as though Dons were heading into the fourth round until beyond stoppage time when Matej Vydra poked home, before Burnley won 4-3 in the shoot-out.

"It hurts. It hurts a lot," said Nicholls. "It's heartbreaking but we couldn't ask for any more. We think their goal came after the three minutes at the end but that's football. We got ourselves together for extra time, conducted ourselves well but it's a shame to go out on penalties.

"It was just awkward, it fell to him and I tried to make myself big but it's knocked it through my legs. It's just unlucky. We moved the ball well, caused them problems and we can build on this.

"At the end of the day, it;s a Premier League team, and a team doing well up there."