Captain Dean Lewington says the Dons will look to make the most of the confidence boost they’ve received after returning to winning ways in midweek.
“We’ve not been on a great run of late and it was important to just get a win of any kind to kick start us again,” Lewington told MK Dons Player. “It’s the shot in the arm that we needed and it means we’re looking up again, rather than down.
“We know it’s an uphill task now but we’ve got two home games in a row coming up and if we win them both the whole picture changes. There are three other teams up there with us and if they keep seeing us win it applies that extra pressure on them.”
Despite their recent run, Karl Robinson’s men showed no signs of nerves early on at Oldham, racing out to an early two-goal lead before Ben Reeves added a third in the second half and Lewington says it was key that the team took advantage of their strong start.
He said: “We spoke earlier in the week about starting quickly and I think Griggy hit the post after just two or three minutes. We looked good on the front foot and it’s important, when we are playing well, to take advantage. Scoring those two goals helped because in the second half it became a difficult game.
“The first five or 10 minutes in the second half were a bit hairy and they had a few half chances but we knew that was going to come. We got through that phase and then the game started to open up.
“When Reeves gets on that left foot you always know what he’s going to do and it was a great goal. We could have probably gone and got four or five really before they scored that one at the end.”
To make Tuesday’s triumph even more impressive, the Dons did it without the services of their usual midfield pairing of Darren Potter and Dele Alli, who were unavailable to suspension and injury respectively.
The latter’s absence since the middle of February has provided a chance for Samir Carruthers to play in his more-favoured central midfield position recently and Lewington believes the former Aston Villa trainee has taken full advantage of his chance.
“He looked very good last Saturday and again (at Oldham),” Lewington added. “Central midfield is his favoured position and I think that extra little bit of responsibility with Dele out has seen him grow into that role.
“If he can keep performing like that, hopefully he can continue to grow and improve in that centre midfield role.”
Lewington and the Dons are back in on Saturday when they take on Notts County at stadiummk for Family Fun Day - tickets are priced at just £10 for adults and £1 for under-18s.
To purchase tickets click here, visit the Box Office/kiosk at thecentre:mk or call 0333 200 5343.