MK Dons win over fellow strugglers ‘just a stepping stone’ – Mark Jackson

Posted Sunday, March 19, 2023 by PA

MK Dons head coach Mark Jackson knows it is not job done after the 1-0 win over Accrington moved his side out of the League One relegation zone.

Sullay Kaikai scored the deciding goal after just eight minutes when he beat two players and squeezed the ball home from a tight angle for his second goal of the campaign.

A second successive victory saw the Dons move above their opponents and out of the bottom four, but Jackson knows the battle for survival is far from over.

“We addressed a lot of things after the defeat to Port Vale and we have managed to pick up two wins on the spin which is fantastic, it’s something we want to build on,” he said.

“It’s just a stepping stone, it’s not job done, and we have to focus and keep the run going.

“This is a difficult place to come to, they put us under pressure and we had to be strong. I asked the players to be brave in controlling the ball and in possession and they were fantastic, they deserve a lot of credit.

“We had to play players out of position but we need everybody at the minute, they want to move heaven and earth to get three points and that’s great when you are a manager.

“It was a great finish by Sullay and we could have made it more comfortable.

“Football is played in the head, it’s a mental battle, and we have had to deal with a lot of testing moments over last few weeks.

“We have come through it and now the focus is to keep pushing forward.”

Accrington have a game in hand but it is against promotion-chasing Plymouth.

Manager John Coleman admitted his side did not deserve anything against the Dons.

He said: “We only started playing in the second half. If you play a really important game against one of your relegation rivals – it was a real six pointer – if you don’t start playing until the second half you put yourself in trouble.

“We didn’t start the game like we should, we gifted them opportunities and they took one. They were better than us.

“We had no attempts in the first half which was poor. In the second half we had more attempts but we huffed and puffed and they saw it out quite comfortably in the end and they deserved the win.

“We are right in the mire now. It’s just in our own hands but not much. We are back in the bottom four but we have 10 games to play and plenty of points on offer and we have to fight for every last drop.”