Harrison puts his foot on the Gas...

DARRELL Clarke thanked Bristol Rovers’ hardy travelling support after his side brushed struggling MK Dons aside to move to within four points of the play-off places.

Ellis Harrison’s 12th goal of the season just after the break was all the Gas needed to get past Dan Micciche’s lacklustre Dons, whose league run without a win has now stretched to ten games.

Clarke’s side, meanwhile, have recorded three wins in five and are ready to hunt down sixth-placed Plymouth with 11 games left to play.

“The goal is a little fortunate because Ellis is meaning to cross it to the back post,” admitted Clarke. “But I think we deserved a bit of luck on the day.

“I want to give a big thank you to the fans because they have dug themselves out of the snow and our support was fantastic.

“We didn’t want to let the party down by putting in a flat performance so hopefully this result has justified the fans coming all this way in dangerous conditions.”

The hosts started brightly and went close to taking the lead when Robbie Muirhead cut inside onto his left foot on 15 minutes, before firing a left-footed strike just over the Rovers goal.

Liam Sercombe threatened for the visitors ten minutes later when his half-volley inside the MK box was superbly saved by Dons keeper Lee Nicholls.

Clarke’s side took a deserved lead five minutes after the break when Harrison broke down the flank before cutting inside and delicately dinking a fine finish over the head of MK keeper Nicholls, although both bosses thought it was a cross.

And despite Muirhead forcing Rovers keeper Sam Slocombe into a testing save late on, Micciche’s men couldn’t find a leveller, as relegation becomes increasingly likely.

Brought in to recuse MK from the drop to League Two, boss Micciche has yet to produce a win, having lost five of his seven matches in charge.

“It’s a really frustrated dressing room and I feel for the players at the moment because they’re trying their best,” said the Dons boss.

“I’ve come in under a difficult situation, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record but that game was really tight.

“We’ve let the supporters down because some of them came in today at 8am to help get the game on.

“The players knew that and we’ve let them down.”