Competition drove changes in Dons' win over Harrogate

Mike Williamson was pleased to see MK Dons come through their penultimate game of the season unscathed after the dramatic 5-3 win over Harrogate Town on Saturday.

Five different scorers hit the back of the net as Dons twice fell behind at the EnviroVent Stadium, but secured fourth spot with the second win by the wild score line of the season - the other coming in the season opener against Wrexham back in August.

With midfield regulars Jack Payne and Lewis Bate rested for the game, Alex Gilbey and Max Dean, who scored in the first-half, were withdrawn at the break while Warren O’Hora was also wrapped in cotton wool early in the second-half as Williamson looked to protect his stars ahead of the play-off campaign, while also giving minutes to those who were short recently.

“We made changes and we're at a level now where competition is very good,” he said afterwards. “We felt it was the strongest team to go and win the game today. There are players in that dressing room who deserve far more minutes than they have received. Everyone who came in was excellent.

“We want to breed a winning mentality, regardless of the game or the personnel. We were lucky enough to come through the game unscathed, with a good performance and one we'll learn a lot from when we look back at it.”

On the game, he added: “I really enjoyed it! Especially for the neutral, it was a spectacle. We've got element we're really focused on, we know how good the boys are but we have to work on our out-of-possession and resilience. There is no hiding where we have to improve, but when things click, they're unstoppable.”