Dons manager Karl Robinson reflected on a victory for persistence following the 1-0 win over Hartlepool United at stadiummk.

And while conceding his side rode their luck towards the end of a tight contest, particularly following Dean Lewington's late dismissal, the rookie boss felt his side's dominance against opponents determined to frustrate earned them a slice of fortune.

Lewis Guy stepped off the bench to hit the Dons' winner, expertly tucking away Sam Baldock's cross 13 minutes from time to end Hartlepool's gritty resistance give Robinson his fifth win in six games as Dons manager.

Robinson said: "We created enough chances in the first half and in the first ten minutes of the second half to be well out in front, but good teams persist, good teams do the right things for long periods. Okay, we rode our luck a little later on but I thought we deserved that bit of luck.

"When teams come here it can often be difficult and people have to understand that we can't always play forwards, you have to move teams from side to side to open them up.

"I haven't had the enjoyment of a comfortable lead with a few minutes to go, but it's exciting and it keeps us on our toes, moving forward and in the mix.

"In the past they were games we'd have drawn or even lost, but we have to keep believing in doing the right things."

Guy's winner follows his heroic strike to settle the Carling Cup win over Blackpool last week and Robinson admits the former Doncaster wide man is one of several players pushing for starting places.

Lewis Guy reminded his manager of his matchwinning abilities with the winner against Hartlepool.

He said: "They're all knocking on the door now and they all deserve to be playing so it's making my job hard because, when you keep winning games and you're wearing teams down, you have to persist with the team that started.

"Would Lewis have scored that goal if he'd started? Who knows? But he deserves that because he works hard on the training pitch on a regular basis.

"We've worked all week on getting into the areas behind the full-backs, pulling the ball back for tap-ins. Sometimes you work on things like that and it comes off and thankfully today was one of those days."