Liam Manning hails MK Dons togetherness as promotion chasers get back on track

Posted Sunday, April 24, 2022 by PA

MK Dons manager Liam Manning revealed he never doubted his side would bounce back in style after the 2-0 win over Morecambe ended a poor run of form.

The Dons are chasing automatic promotion from League One but had taken just one point from their last three games before the Shrimps’ visit to Stadium MK on Saturday.

However, goals either side of the break from Harry Darling and Daniel Harvie were enough to get a dominant Dons side back on track as they remain level on points with second-placed Rotherham, albeit having played a game more.

Manning said: “I had complete confidence that we would respond the way we did today, after such a good run and having the results we have done the last couple of games, it is always going to test you.

“The team ethic, the togetherness that we have, the respect they have for each other, you’re able to bounce back and it was really pleasing.”

Darling broke the deadlock in the 20th minute after firing home off the post and it was a lead the home side never looked like surrendering with Morecambe restricted to just four shots, none of which were on target.

Manning added: “I thought we had good control throughout the game, we were difficult to beat.

“I don’t remember them having too many chances to be honest, that platform we have built of us being hard to beat served us well today and we passed the ball with real quality.

“There were a lot of passages of play where we maintained control, but I think we carried a threat throughout. Overall I am really pleased with the team’s response after the last couple of results.”

Despite defeat, which was sealed when Harvie’s deflected effort dropped in 11 minutes from time, leaving Morecambe just two points outside the relegation zone, Shrimps boss Derek Adams was not overly disappointed with his players.

He said: “It was always going to be a difficult game for us, MK Dons are a very good side that are trying to push into the automatic promotion places.

“We were pushing in the first half and they pushed back at us in the second half, we have come away with a 2-0 defeat but it is not the worst result for us today.

“In the first half when we had the chance to press the ball, we could have done a lot better.

“Over the 90 minutes we have come away with a 2-0 defeat but we tried our best to deal with the threat that MK Dons have as they have a lot of talented players.”

After AFC Wimbledon conceded a late equaliser away to Fleetwood, the battle to survive the drop into the fourth tier is set to go down to the wire.

Joe Garner’s 88th-minute goal secured a 1-1 draw that leaves the Cod Army level on 40 points with Gillingham while Morecambe are just two points ahead with one of the three set to be relegated.

Adams, whose side host Sunderland next week in their final league fixture, explained: “We have tried to get that goal but we haven’t done enough today.

“We have got ourselves out of the relegation zone, three teams can’t catch us and it is a three-team race now to stay up between ourselves, Fleetwood Town and Gillingham.”