Dons repel late revival as Martin is left relieved

RUSSELL Martin was relived to see his side secure a third win in a row as his MK Dons side hung on to see off the inform Burton Albion.

The Dons looked to be cruising to victory just after the hour mark when Warren O’Hora doubled their lead after former Albion man Scott Fraser had netted from the spot after 15 minutes after a handball from Tom Hamer. But Hamer made amends winning his side a penalty with 15 minutes remaining, Lucas Akins firing home to set up a grandstand finish with Martin’s side resisting heavy later pressure.

“For the first 60 or 70 minutes until we conceded the penalty, I thought it was an outstanding performance” said the former Norwich defender.

“Not a huge amount of chances, but a lot of control against a really difficult team. Some of the play in the first half and early in the second half was just brilliant. It was great to watch. You could see the players are enjoying it.

“The game went away from us in the last 20 minutes after the penalty, which is understandable. They get renewed energy after scoring. The guys had to dig in and I thought they did it brilliantly.”

The breakthrough came in the 15th minute after Hamer was adjudged to have handled Matt O’Riley’s cross, with Fraser notching his seventh spot-kick of the season.

Andrew Fisher made a smart save from Akins early in the second as Albion looked for a response.

O’Hora’s headed effort just after the hour made things a lot more comfortable for the Dons, the Irish defender finishing a bout of head tennis from a corner with a well-placed effort from close range.

But Albion hit back with Akins firing home from the spot after 74 minutes after Ethan Laird felled Hamer. Hayden Carter fired a stoppage-time volley over from close as MK held out for the win handing Albion a first defeat in eight games.

Brewers boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “We had better chances than them, but they were better overall.

“The disappointment is that they scored their two both from set-pieces. One a penalty, the other a corner. It is a soft penalty. We didn’t really start playing until the last 30 minutes and that was a little bit late, but it is a loss, but we can’t dwell on it.”