MK Dons manager Karl Robinson insists there is still more to come from his side following their fourth straight victory on Boxing Day.
The Dons climbed to 10th in the Sky Bet League 1 table with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Crawley Town on Thursday afternoon, courtesy goals from Stephen Gleeson and Patrick Bamford.
The men from MK1 have now won all four of their games in December without conceding a goal but manager Robinson believes the best is still to come from his players.
Speaking to the media after the win, the 33-year-old said: “We’re still nowhere near where I want to be and there’s still a lot more to come from us but I just thought today we looked comfortable.
“The pitch wasn’t great or very playable, if I’m being totally honest, and think if you spoke to Jon Gregory he’d agree with that. But, the referee said it was playable and a win and a goal in each half is all I could really ask as a manager.
“I thought the goals we scored, again, were unbelievable but there are one or two bits that we’re not happy with. We felt they had several chances where we could have defended a little bit better but David Martin dug us out of a hole.
“We’ll go away and work on those things and come back a better team for the Brentford game. There is a really good vibe among the group at the moment having won four of our last four without a conceding a goal but it’s important we keep that going now.
“In months gone by we’d have maybe lost this game but this result just shows the togetherness amongst the group at the moment.”
Despite the positives, the Dons did suffer a blow in the second half ahead of that clash with Brentford, with midfielder Gleeson picking up his fifth booking of the season in the second half and as a result, he will serve a one-match suspension this weekend.
There were also concerns, post-match, over the fitness of Gleeson’s fellow Irishman Shaun Williams and Chelsea loanee Bamford, who both left the game prematurely through injury, but Robinson is hopeful the duo will be fit in time for Sunday.
“(Shaun’s) got a bit of twinge after a knock to his back and Patrick’s rolled his ankle but I can’t see why they wont be fit for Sunday.
“We have lost Stephen Gleeson for the Brentford game which is a big, big loss for us off the back of two wonder goals in his last two games, but it’s a chance for somebody else to step up and take the opportunity to win a place.”
If the Dons can go to Griffin Park on Sunday and take maximum points it would cap off a superb month for the side who, at the end of November, were in the bottom half of the table.
And Robinson doesn’t see why his players should fear the Bees. He added: “That’s two wins, now, over this Christmas period with two more games still to come.
“We respect Brentford immensely but we don’t fear them. They’re a wonderful side with some good, good players but we’ll go there and give our best - that’s all I can ask. If they give their all and it’s not enough then so be it.”
