MK Dons boss Paul Warne admitted his team were not at their best as they edged out Cheltenham 3-2.
But he praised the way they dug in for another away success after goals from Curtis Nelson, Callum Paterson and Marvin Ekpiteta, with Jake Bickerstaff and Isaac Hutchinson responding for the home side.
“It was typical League Two really; the pitch was lively, it was bit windy and there was not a lot of quality in the game,” Warne said.
“On chances, we were in the ascendancy and we could have had three or four in the first half.
“It felt they only had two shots on target and two went in, so it was a bit nervier than it needed to be.
“It then ended up being a bit hectic but I don’t care, we won the game and we move onto the next one, with 16 left and we just have to keep pulling out wins.
“If you can win away games, it helps no end so I am proud of the lads’ efforts.”
Warne’s side had won three and drawn one of their previous four and they made a confident start against a team on a run of four successive defeats in all competitions.
Joe Day spooned a low drive from Ben Wiles away in the second minute and Aaron Collins was denied by Day after racing through on goal in the 14th minute.
The first goal arrived in the 32nd minute when Liam Kelly’s cross was headed over the line from close range by Nelson, and a poor back-pass from Jonathan Tomkinson was then seized on by Paterson in the 38th minute and he rolled a low shot past Day to make it 2-0.
Bickerstaff fired a shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner in first-half stoppage time to halve the deficit.
But MK Dons pulled further clear in the 64th minute when Kelly’s corner caused problems and after Rushian Hepburn-Murphy’s effort was parried, Ekpiteta lashed home.
Hutchinson made it interesting with an 87th-minute strike on his return on loan from Bristol Rovers, but Warne’s side had done enough.
Robins boss Steve Cotterill was determined the take the positives away from what he felt was an encouraging display.
“I know the result is the thing you always work to gain every matchday, but there were lots of positives for us today,” he said.
“We are playing a team that has by far and away got the strongest team in the league and we had more of the ball. We just had a couple of moments that went against us.
“I said to the guys at half-time, “I don’t feel we’ll get beaten today and depending on if we can get that next goal in the game, I think we’ll go on and win it”.
“Our subs made a big impact in the second half and I am leaving the ground in a positive mood today, which isn’t usually the case after we’ve lost a game.”
