Karl Robinson revealed his pride after his MK Dons side took The FA Cup with Budweiser holders Wigan Athletic to extra-time in their Third Round replay on Tuesday night.
Luke Chadwick gave the Dons an early lead in yesterday’s contest and the men from MK1 looked good value for their lead until, with just ten minutes to go, substitute Nick Powell levelled and extended the tie by a further half an hour.
Manchester United loanee Powell then scored again in extra-time before Marc-Antoine Fortune sealed the victory but Robinson admits he was still pleased with the way his side performed over the two fixtures.
Speaking after the game, the 33-year-old said: “We didn’t deserve to lose the game, I thought over 180 minutes we were very dominant and the better team. We've played really well over the two games and I’m just really, really proud of my players.
“I thought Stephen (Gleeson) and (Darren) Potter, in particular, were magnificent today but I’m happy with everything that went on in the game and I couldn’t have asked for anymore.
"When Smithy went on and we moved to 4-4-2 we had a couple more chances and maybe if we nick one then, with a few minutes to go, it's a different game. It just wasn't to be.
"There were large parts of today that were very, very good and we can take a lot of positives from it but we just got to dust ourselves off now and go again on Saturday.
"But, we can now look back fondly on our FA Cup run because, once again, it’s been another magical run for us."
The one talking point from the game will be referee James Adcock's decision to only show a yellow card to Wigan captain Ben Watson following a challenge which some inside stadiummk felt denied a goalscoring opportunity.
Robinson, though, admits the Nottinghamshire official may have made the correct call. He added: "At first look, yes (I thought it was a red card) but the referee told me the ball was well gone; he said Powelly's knocked it and then run into the player and I've got to trust him.
"I thought the referee was excellent tonight, it was one of the best refereeing performances I've ever seen at stadiummk this season.
"Today's game just saw two teams playing football the right way and giving their all, a referee conducting himself in a very mild and a polite manner, and the fans conducting themselves in the right way."
