Rest of the team need to match Lewington's mentality

The MK Dons players need to take a page out of Dean Lewington's book when it comes to keeping their heads under the recent pressure they find themselves facing their manager says.

The captain has played every game this season barring the EFL Trophy win over Stevenage, and been given a new lease of life playing as part of Russell Martin's back three rather than as a traditional left back.

But with Dons struggling in the early stages of the season, often conceding early goals and from set pieces, Martin, speaking after the 3-2 defeat at Oxford on Tuesday, has demanded his players match the mentality shown by their skipper, especially away from home after more than a year without a league win on the road.

"Fundamentally and structurally there is nothing wrong with the team," he said. "But there is something wrong with our mentality especially away from Stadium MK. We need to make sure we sort that out.

"It makes it a lot easier if we can play Richard Keogh and Louis Thompson every week, because there's one person in there who shows the right mentality every game, and he's 36 and our captain.

"We have to churn him out every game because he's so responsible, reliable and takes so much pride in what we're doing. He doesn't get affected by any situation in the game, and that comes with experience and there are others who need to rise to that and show it.

"We are a team who everyone wants to beat because of how we play, teams will work to stop us. We have to work out a way to win whoever we play."