Karl Robinson hails Salford character in tight victory over MK Dons

Salford boss Karl Robinson was delighted after his team cut the gap on the Sky Bet League Two automatic promotion places to three points with a 1-0 win over 10-man MK Dons.

Matt Butcher rifled a stunning shot into the top right corner from the edge of the box to give the Ammies the lead after 66 minutes.

Dons defender Luke Offord was sent off four minutes from time for kicking out at Salford substitute Fabio Borini as tensions boiled over as League Two’s top scorers failed to find the back of the net for only the fifth time this season.

After the match, Robinson said he was delighted to win a match played in strong winds on a dry and difficult pitch.

He said: “To come up against the league’s leading scorers and not concede a goal shows the strength of character in our play.

“I don’t think people really understand how hard it is to play on this pitch. It’s dry and it was really windy.

“Now we have the most wins our football club has ever had in the Football League. We’ve already beaten last year’s points tally – and that’s with more injuries than we have ever had.”

Robinson explained that he is not paying attention to the teams competing for promotion with Salford and is only focused on his own side’s performance.

He added: “Managing Salford is one of the most stressful jobs I’ve ever had in my life. So I’m not going to worry about somebody else’s results.

“We worry about ourselves, and that’s the uniqueness of us, that we may not be liked by many, but we are certainly a group of people who really care for this football club.”

MK Dons manager Paul Warne described the game as “horrific” but admitted that his side did not do enough to win despite the tough conditions.

He said: “The conditions didn’t help either team. When I say conditions, I mean the wind, low sun and pitch.

“It was one of the poorest games I think I’ve ever seen this time of year. In fairness, it took it out of both sets of players. It looked like an exhausting encounter.

“No one could keep it for more than one pass and it felt like it would come down to a mistake or one-goal match – and that’s what happened to be.”

“It just didn’t feel like a proper football match. It just felt really bitty, really ‘set-piecey’.

“You’ve got to get your basics bang on, be organised on restarts and give yourself a good chance, but today we weren’t and we got punished.

“I’m not saying that we were the better team. We didn’t deserve much more out of the game than we got, but there wasn’t really anything in the game.

“It would not make you renew your season ticket after seeing it.

“It was just a scrappy, windy game of football that won’t live long in the memory.”