LEKO UP! Striker is back with a bang
MARK JACKSON believes his MK Dons side are building up some vital momentum in the relegation battle following their home win over rivals Morecambe.
A smart finish from Jonathan Leko – playing for the first time since a three-match ban – was enough to claim all three points and push the Dons four points clear of the drop.
Against a team also battling to stay in League One, a third-straight victory for the side could prove crucial come the end of the season.
Jackson said: “It’s a really pleasing result of course, and we’ve got some really good momentum now, at a crucial stage of the season. It’s a massive result, but there’s still a lot more work to do, we all know that.
“It gives the players that bit more confidence, it gives them a spark, and it lifts everyone – we’ve just got to keep this momentum going now.”
The Dons enjoyed much the better of the first half, but couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Leko saw an early effort saved by Connor Ripley. Mohamed Eisa was then thwarted by Ripley after he had found space in the Morecambe box.
Dan Crowley went close for the visitors, but the Dons were unlucky again when Leko’s strike took a deflection before being saved by Ripley.
A minute after the restart, Eisa rose to meet Dan Harvie’s cross, but he headed off target. The Dons finally struck just before the hour mark when Leko coolly converted Harvie’s low cross. Two minutes later it was almost level again as Pape Souare saw a shot thump a post.
Eisa fired a rebound wide after Ripley had parried Leko’s thunderbolt strike, but the Dons hung on.
Defeat leaves Morecambe 22nd in the table, three points off safety, with less than 10 games of the season left to salvage a spot in the division.
Manager Derek Adams (below) is under no illusions about the dogfight his side find themselves in. He said: “I don’t know whether we’re going to survive this season, I’ve not got a crystal ball, but as I say, we’ll just keep going and work as hard as we can to get the results we need.
“The spirit in the dressing room is fantastic – we’ve lost the game but the confidence is still there. We played really well – in the first half we were excellent. We opened up MK Dons a few times, but the thing we didn’t get was enough shots on target. “We’ve no illusions of grandeur, we know where we are budget-wise in this division. The players have been exceptional, but that was the reason we came
up short.”