Mike Williamson hailed MK Dons’ energy as he claimed his first victory as manager in a rousing 4-1 win over Bradford at Stadium MK.
Joe Tomlinson gave The Dons an early advantage, but it was cancelled out by Bradford’s Alex Gilliead in the opening 20 minutes.
They reclaimed their lead through a Jack Payne free-kick before running away winners with two second-half goals from Max Dean and Alex Gilbey, marking Dons’ first victory in 10 league games.
“The boys were fantastic and played with so much energy,” Williamson said. “We created so many chances, which was pleasing, but I’ve got to say it was mainly off the players and less about the structure.
“When we get the ideas across, we should start to see things a bit cleaner. But the boys deserve that.
“They’ve been working extremely hard and it’s been tough so they deserve that feeling now.
“I think we probably missed the easier chances and put away the harder ones, as is football.
“I’m sure a lot of fans were thinking we were going to get that sucker punch. That’s the atmosphere. That’s what we’ve got to work through, understand and appreciate, and just focus on what we’re doing with the lads.
“It’s just about that emotional and tactical reset from the first minute to the 95th minute.
“We’ve got an extremely talented, hard-working and humble group here, and it’s just up to us to find the things we can improve and support them on.”
Bradford’s caretaker player-manager Kevin McDonald, who named himself in midfield in place of suspended captain Richie Smallwood, admitted standards slipped as City fell to their first defeat in five matches.
“We’ve set a standard and we fell below that standard,” McDonald said. “We expect better, the fans expect better and the fans deserve better.
“We need to pick ourselves up and be ready to go. I tell you one thing, we’ll be ready to go because we don’t want a performance like that and we won’t accept it as a player or as a coach.
“On a night like that, it’s one of those ones where we’ve got to have a good look over it and see where things went wrong and things we can improve.
“We’ve been compact as a team in and out of possession and when you are, you can win the ball back and play forward quickly.
“Tonight didn’t seem to be that way but credit to them, they played some nice stuff and it was a tough evening for everyone.
“At times we were a bit all over the place, and that’s not what we’ve been. They played some nice stuff and it was a tough evening for everyone.”
