Jacko urges Dons to look up, not down the League One table after escaping drop zone

Mark Jackson does not want MK Dons to be looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone after they climbed out of the bottom four for the first time since October on Saturday.

Mo Eisa’s brace either side of half-time saw Dons come from behind to inflict their second defeat in a month over bottom club Forest Green Rovers, lifting them to 19th in the table ahead of home games against Shrewsbury Town and Exeter City this coming week.

Picking up seven points from a possible 15 since Jackson took over, the head coach said this is only the beginning for his side, who must keep looking up the table rather than down it.

“It's big but we have to look upwards, we can't look behind,” he said when asked about getting out of the bottom four. “I've tried to be positive after games, and our behaviours are becoming more consistent.

“In a game where we couldn't always control it or have our style of play, but we showed different battling qualities, and we stood strong when they put us under pressure. We've got that in our locker.”

On an awkward playing surface at the New Lawn, which passed a pitch inspection at around 10.15am, Dons were unable to play in their usual style, but Jackson said he was impressed with how his side were able to adapt to the conditions and ride out the pressure the hosts threw at them late on.

He continued: “We knew it would be difficult because the surface is not condusive to the football we want to play and I think it showed. We couldn't really get going, it was scrappy, but it was a really important victory.

“It’s something we can build on, but we cannot take our foot off the gas now. We need to enjoy it but we’ve got to prepare for Tuesday as well.”