Joe Tomlinson declared he was happy to help MK Dons achieve back-to-back wins as they defeated Accrington Stanley.

Tomlinson spoke after scoring in the Dons’ 2-1 home win over Stanley, which saw MK Dons win back-to-back games for the first time this season, and the wing-back said it was proof the team was building up their momentum.

He said, “It’s brilliant from the boys to go back-to-back. We’re feeling good, we’re getting there, improvements are there and we hope this gives us some momentum to put us on a good run like we did last year, but then finish it off, keep going and get to the top.”

Tomlinson admitted that the game wasn’t necessarily the most exciting game but was happy the team showed the necessarily battling qualities.

He said, “It was not an enjoyable game of football really for the spectator or for anyone, and it was not a great deal of football being played, but it’s what they came to do and they had a game plan. We’ll take the three points. We battled, you have to do that and we did it, so I’m proud of the boys.”

The wing-back scored in the game, adding the Dons’ second goal to follow up Alex Gilbey’s first minute opener. Reflecting on the game, Tomlinson said that the main thing was helping the team win but he was happy to strike and wanted to add more as the season continues.

He said, “It just came out to me on the edge of the box, so I thought I’d have a go. Really pleased to help out, but the main thing is three points for the team.

“I still want more and I should be getting a lot more. I want to improve on what I did last year. The main thing is the three points and I’m happy to help the team but there’s more to come from me.”

Conceding a goal less than ten minutes after moving 2-0 up meant that Tomlinson reflected that more was required.

He said, “We still want that clean sheet. That’s the annoying one. We should see games out more and it should be more comfortable.

“The frustrating point on that is that, on Saturday we conceded and tonight we conceded. We haven’t had a clean sheet for a while, that’s the frustrating thing and the final thing to put in the players. We keep a clean sheet tonight, we make it 2, 3, 4, but as soon as we concede, they push on and it changes the game completely. That’s the last thing we kind of need to keep working and improving on, because when they get to that point, games will be more enjoyable.”

Looking for the games ahead, Tomlinson said the goal was to shoot up the league table, akin to a run around this time last year that helped lift the Dons up the table following a slow start.

He said, “I think we went ten unbeaten or something last year so we’re looking to do something similar but with final steps, so we’re looking to push all the way up there and keep going. Play-offs really is not our goal – we want automatic. It’s as simple as that. If we end up with play-offs, we end up with play-offs and we’ll go win that, but automatic’s definitely the goal.”

An injury time goal by Tyler Magloire saw Northampton salvage a point in a 1-1 draw against Stockport.

Louie Barry’s penalty in the final stages of the 90 had seen Stockport take the lead, but Magloire’s equaliser ensured Northampton took a point with them for the trip back down south.

The result means that with 11 games played of the League One season, Northampton find themselves 2 places above the relegation zone ahead of a game against Crawley Town, who would jump ahead of Northampton if they were to win at Sixfields.

Having won over Leyton Orient at the weekend, Northampton picked an unchanged starting 11 for the trip to the side promoted from League Two last season.

Stockport’s best first half chances fell for Jayden Fevrier, who headed one effort wide and then saw a long range drive hit the crossbar, while Tom Eaves headed wide for Northampton in-between the two attempts.

The home side upped the tempo after the break, as Barry, Odin Bailey and Fevrier all missed the target with efforts.

Northampton nearly made the most of a chance in response, however, when Tyler Roberts saw a strike bounce off the post. Tarique Fosu would also see one cleared off the line moments later.

With time running out, however, Stockport were handed a chance to open the scoring from the spot. Cameron McGeehan was deemed to have fouled Kyle Wootton, and Barry duly scored the penalty to give Stockport an 87th minute lead.

However, things weren’t done, and in the third minute of stoppage time, Northampton equalised when Magloire turned in Fosu’s cross.

MK Dons Head Coach Scott Lindsey was happy to see his side win but admitted he found his side’s game against Accrington Stanley difficult to watch and looked to see his side improve.

Lindsey spoke after a 2-1 win over Accrington Stanley at Stadium MK, in which goals from Alex Gilbey and Joe Tomlinson did the job for the home side.

Afterwards, Lindsey said that while he was happy MK Dons achieved their base goal of picking up back-to-back league wins for the first time since March, he found the game difficult to watch.

He said, “The pleasing thing for me is that I asked the players to win back-to-back games. It was 32 weeks since we’d done that back in March, so it was important we put that right and we did tonight. But I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t enjoy the game one bit. I enjoyed a bit of character and I think we showed that, but I didn’t enjoy the game. I don’t think we played particularly well or controlled the game. It became a bit of a scrap and a mess, but we bumbled over the line. It is what it is.”

Lindsey said that the ideal scenario would’ve seen the team wrap things up when they moved into a 2-0 lead, only for a goal back for the visitors to lead to some hesitation.

He said, “We were only 2-0 up for nine minutes. If we’d have continued being 2-0 up for the rest of the game, we’d have dominated the end of the game but we get done down our left-hand side too easy and a cross in the box leaves him free. We’re not man-to-man or marking in the box. So we have to do that better and focus. It’s important we keep focusing all the way to the end of the game. When you go 2-0 up, you just need to rest, control and dominate, which we was, but we have to then defend moments and we didn’t defend it well enough. Then for the last 20 minutes, it’s out of control and not enjoyable to watch or play in.”

Lindsey also said he felt the team’s first half display lacked something, despite Gilbey giving his side a first minute lead.

He said, “I’m pleased with the way we started the game but we didn’t play any football in their half, especially in the first half. We try to build our player with possession from the keeper deep but when we got into their half of the pitch, we were a little bit anxious and tried to rush the action. We could’ve controlled more in their half than we did and we spoke about that at half-time and I thought we were more controlled in the second half up until them scoring, then it got out of control.”

Reflecting on his time at MK Dons so far, Lindsey said he felt the team were good learners but that the game demonstrated further work was required to fully figure out how to meet his game plan.

He said, “The players have been class. The players have been brilliant. I think that it’s clear to see that we’re asking different things of them now in pressing, running really hard, defending, pressing high up the pitch and being really controlled with the ball. We’re kind of probably not at the levels we need to be at yet, but the more they play and games we play, the better they’ll get and the quicker it will become apparent they can do it.”

Milton Keynes City Council has marked the launch of the city’s newest food larder in the Netherfield area of the city.

The Hedgerows Family Centre Larder will serve as a local neighbourhood club which will require a subscription. Weekly memberships are just £3.50 for an individual and £7 for a family and will provide up to £15 worth of subsidised fresh food each week. The larder is open every Tuesday from 2pm until 4pm.

The aim of these community larders is to save waste and give people access to cheaper food, a chance to meet neighbours and access services to support with the cost-of-living. People using community larders don’t need to be means tested or on specific benefits.

MK City Council have stated that they are helping to subsidise food larders as part of their ongoing help for people struggling with the cost-of-living. Over the past year, the city council has rolled out multiple initiatives to support struggling families, including access to food as well as additional financial support.

The food larder has been set up with a regional charity partner that works to support children and families.

Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Communities, Cllr Donna Fuller, said, “Community larders empower local people, so they aren’t reliant on foodbanks which are for emergency support. For just £7 a week, families have access to a range of fresh food that they might not otherwise be able to afford. We know that many people are still struggling with the cost-of-living and we’ll continue to do what we can to support them during these challenging times. My thanks go out to the Family Centre staff and volunteers who help make these things happen.”

Further details about the support available can be found on www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/cost-living-support