Karl Robinson felt his side deserved all three points after their 2-2 draw at Preston North End on Saturday.
The Dons twice came from behind at Deepdale, thanks to a wonder goal from Jason Banton and a Shaun Williams penalty, but they could have snatched a second successive League win late-on with a flurry of chances at the death.
Robinson’s men, though, had to make do with another away point - a draw which preserves their unbeaten start to the new season and lifts them up into eighth in League 1.
Speaking after the game, the Dons boss said: “I thought we deserved more than what we got. To come to Preston North End and put on a performance like we did is really, really pleasing. It’s a statement of intent from the players for me.
“To go down twice and fight our way back to 2-2 and then, arguably, almost win it at the end is really impressive. That Preston defence is one of the best in country, they hadn’t conceded a goal up to this point, and we carved them open multiple times.
“Their two goals were frustrating but our players are only humans. Semy dithered a little bit for the second but at that time I thought we were the better team. It came right against the run of play.
“Then obviously our goal in the first half came from Jason’s wonder strike. The boys still got a long way to go but I think the world of him and he deserved that standing ovation at the end.
“He scored against Northampton, he set up the goal against Crewe and he scored the goal today, so arguably in the last three games he’s been the difference. It was nice to see him score the goal but for me the penalty was just as good because of superb passing move leading up to it.
“All in all, today’s a good day. It was a good performance and a well deserved point against a very strong Preston side and we showed we’re more than capable of competing in this League despite our youth.”
One talking point sure to be on the lips of Dons fans making their way back to Milton Keynes tonight, was Robinson’s decision to make all three substitutions at once, ten minutes after half-time.
And the 32-year-old explained his decision, adding: “I thought all of the boys looked a bit tired, which is why I made the three substitutions. We were doing well but I didn’t think those three were contributing enough because of how tired they were.
“So, I thought if I could change that and bring three players on, all of whom had a point to prove, then I thought we would do better and we did. I felt we went up a gear, we had even more chances.”