Substitutes praised as Dons break Northampton's hearts

Four substitutes played key roles in MK Dons' comeback at the end of an action-packed 4-3 win over Northampton on Saturday.

Trailing 3-2 with eight minutes to go, Cameron Jerome lashed home Ben Gladwin's ball over the top before Charlie Brown got his first goal for the club, prodding home Daniel Harvie's cross with two minutes to go to complete their second comeback of the afternoon at Stadium MK.

After a stuttering first half performance from Russell Martin's side, which saw them turn around the scoreline having trailed after just 79 seconds to Fraser Horsfall's volley, the second half was equally unnerving for the manager as he saw his side concede inside the first minute through former Dons midfielder Ryan Watson to level up. And when Peter Kioso - a former Dons academy product - nodded Cobblers in from with 12 minutes to go, it felt as though Dons' winning run would end.

But Jerome and Brown secured Dons' third win in a row late on, moving the club up to 11th place.

"The subs all made a huge impact – four of them were invovled in the last two goals," said Martin afterwards. "We needed that new energy, fresh legs on the pitch. I'm really pleased to see Ben link up with Cammy and Danny with Charlie.

"I'm really pleased we won, there is a lot to learn and we cannot be that poor again. We got away with that. We'd have lost it a short while ago. To comeback and show that character, it's something we have to keep building.

"We've got momentum and we don't know when we're beaten. Today was really difficult.

"We've shown today we can adapt and be resilient, when we've not been resilient before. It's a brilliant group, but they'll be disappointed with elements today.

"It is three wins in a row, we've got momentum, we're confident, and what wins do is take a bit of pressure off and put a bit more fear into the minds of the opposition. We have to keep building and see how far it takes us."