Mike Williamson heaped praise on his MK Dons side after they roared back into form with a rousing 5-0 demolition of Walsall.
The Dons lost by the same scoreline on their last outing, at leaders Stockport, but responded emphatically against play-off chasing Walsall to stay in the race for automatic promotion from League Two.
With Wrexham and Mansfield still three points clear of the Dons, Williamson called for focus as his side look to reel in the top three.
“I could go through and praise the whole team but we’ve got to sort our away form out,” the Dons boss said.
“As good as that was, let’s enjoy it and we will enjoy it now, but then let’s re-focus because that’s as quick as football happens.”
Substitute Max Dean scored twice in the second half either side of goals from Alex Gilbey and Joe Tomlinson, adding to Emre Tezgel’s first-half strike for the Dons’ biggest win of the season.
“I think that’s the highs and lows of football that we all love it for,” said Williamson.
“We spoke to them before the game and we felt there was still a bit of pain from the weekend, which is perfectly natural but it’s our job to try and support and take that away and refocus.
“I thought we struggled to focus a bit this week, but then they respond like that. So I think we had a bit of apprehension.
“We’re normally very good at home but we know how good Walsall are. There just couldn’t be any complacency.
“First half was one I felt as though we controlled things, we could’ve scored more but Michael Kelly made a few good saves and there was a little tiredness out there.”
Meanwhile, Walsall head coach Mat Sadler was left bemoaning missed chances when the game was still in the balance, as his side’s play-off hopes were dented.
The Saddlers are still in a strong position, however, trailing seventh-placed Gillingham by just four points with two games in hand.
“I thought we had a couple of really good chances in the first half to go 1-0 up,” said Sadler.
“You know that these are a very good team and they’ve got the best home record for a reason. So you want to take your chances when they come and unfortunately we didn’t.
“Then the next 30 minutes become a bit of a blur, we were disappointed with where the game got away from us.
“For us, we have to dust ourselves down quickly. We didn’t get the outcome we wanted today but we’re still in a position to attack the final seven games.
“We need to get back to who we are and attack the final 30 days.”
Michel delighted with Girona's return to form after injury boosts
Michel puts Girona's rediscovered form down to the energy of the returning players from injury after they thrashed Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
Girona had endured a shaky start to the season but moved up to fifth in the standings on 21 points after a superb home victory featuring a Bojan Miovski brace and goals by Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci.
Michel's side have now won their last three LaLiga matches, going on their best such run since between April and May 2024, the last time they recorded three victories on the bounce.
"Today's victory, which is our third [in a row], it's due to the fact we got people back, because we've rested, because we've had a very good week of training and because that energy today was noticeable," Michel told a press conference.
"The only thing I hope is that we continue to recover people, that we continue to have the necessary minutes for everyone and that, as we have very tough games coming up every three days, we need everyone to be at 100%; we'll see if we can achieve this without any problems."
Yaser Asprilla and Krejci, back from injury, combined for the fourth goal, but it was the pairing of Miovski and Gil who made the night with lethal attacks for the second and third goals.
"I am very happy for Miovski, he is a player who gives everything in training," Michel added. "I was worried because he wasn't scoring goals.
"He always tries to do his best for the team, he needs time. I am happy for him.
"Bryan is a very important player for everyone, his best version is yet to come. Right now, the process with him is what we all expect."
Last season's surprise package Girona face Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday and the manager hopes they can repeat Saturday's performance in the European game.
"This is the Girona I want, 100%. We started the game very well, that's the reality," Michel added.
"The first half hour was spectacular, with and without the ball... We had a presence up front. The first half hour is what we want to do this season."
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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