MK Dons boss Mike Williamson said his promotion-chasing side had shown real character to come from behind to win 2-1 away at Sky Bet League Two leaders Mansfield.

Dons were smarting from Saturday’s defeat by rivals AFC Wimbledon but bolstered their promotion hopes as Stags lost at home for only the second time this season.

“I thought it was a fantastic game between two good teams and you could see from the first whistle that both sides wanted to win,” said Williamson.

“I thought we showed every area of our character today and we played as much as we were allowed.

“We were under a lot of pressure as they are a really high-intensity, hard-working team. And we had to put bodies on the line as well.

“It was a good response from Saturday’s defeat and that is what these players are about and the chemistry they have in there.

“We had to play with a lot of courage and bravery today.

“Ultimately we had to respect who we are playing – they are top of the league for a reason. So I am proud of the boys tonight. They all put a real shift in.”

Mansfield went ahead after 15 minutes when MJ Williams’ handball gifted them a penalty.

Michael Kelly kept out Lucas Akins’ spot-kick and he then also saved the former Burton forward’s follow-up but could not stop Stephen Quinn burying the loose ball at the third time of asking.

However, five minutes later Lewis Brunt’s powerful header unluckily hit the onrushing Alex Gilbey who raced onto the gift and crashed home a fine 20-yard finish.

The winner came on 54 minutes through Matthew Dennis, who had cleared an Aden Flint header off the line and missed a six yard header in the first half.

He cut in from the left and saw his low finish take a deflection past Christy Pym.

Mansfield manager Nigel Clough said: “I don’t think we got a break tonight playing against an extremely good team – technically they are probably the best in the league.

“But I thought we were a bit unlucky with both goals tonight.

“For the first Lewis Brunt won a brilliant header and it just went straight to their lad off his thigh into his path and he’s put a great finish in.

“For the second Louis Reed’s had a shot from outside the box, it’s been blocked and gone in their lad’s path again and they have broken away and scored.

“There was bags of effort tonight but not a break. The lads gave absolutely everything.

“It took us three go’s to score from a penalty which probably summed up the night after scoring 14 goals here in the last couple of home games. We were maybe due one of these sorts of days.”

Reading manager Ruben Selles admitted that he was pleased that his struggling side avoided an upset against lower-division opposition after their 3-2 FA Cup first-round win over MK Dons.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan gave Reading a third-minute lead with his sixth goal of the season, but Alex Gilbey levelled before the break.

Second-half efforts from Harvey Knibbs and Lewis Wing eased Reading into a two-goal cushion, with Max Dean halving the deficit with a late consolation for the Sky Bet League Two outfit.

Selles, whose side sit bottom of League One after losing their last five games, said: “The FA Cup is always difficult.

“Whoever is your opponent, we have often seen teams from higher categories falling to teams in the categories below. So, we put in a good performance.

“Perhaps we should have finished the game a little bit earlier. We just made it complicated in the last minutes.

“But I’m happy with the performance and keeping the team together, no injuries and we go into the next round. It was a good day.

“We got a little bit caught out in the first half, especially with their first goal. It was just that pass in between, we should have defended it much better.

“We were missing a few things in the first half, which is why we changed at half time. We were missing with the wingers, the one-against-one situations and the pressure.

“It was a matter of changing the dynamic of the game. We had to be much more on the front foot, much more aggressive with the pressure. We were much better in that way in the second half.”

New MK Dons head coach Mike Williamson, who succeeded Graham Alexander last month, said: “The halves were contrasting and, from our point of view, that was disappointing.

“That’s been a bit of a theme, our starts to the second half, and that’s something that we need to address.

“But I think that you can see the detail that we’re putting in and it’s evident what the boys are taking on.

“We’ve just got to find a way of wrestling the momentum back when we do go behind.

“We have to accept that we are going to suffer in periods of games. It’s how we get back into it and get back on the ball.

“In the first half, you could see what we were trying to achieve. But there was still an element of frustration getting the better of us.

“When other teams do step on and step up, we haven’t quite got to grips with that yet.

“Again, though, the boys fought all the way to the end. Even though we were running out of time, we never gave up. So there was still so many positives to take.”

Graham Alexander hit out at his MK Dons side for a lack of commitment in the first half of their 2-1 home defeat to Stockport.

Former Dons player Louie Barry scored his fifth goal of the season for the visitors before the home side equalised through Mo Eisa.

Stockport went back in front on the stroke of half-time though through Nick Powell and this time there was no way back for the hosts.

Alexander said: “The first half cost us. There was no intensity, no speed or no commitment to what we’ve been doing of late.

“We can’t lie to anybody and think we deserved anything from that game today.

“The way we started was really slow, took too many touches and delayed everything.

“If you don’t commit as hard as you have to in professional football, you get beat.

“The game was there for us as a team after last week’s performance, but we just didn’t get going in the first half.

“In the second half, there was an increase in intensity, but we didn’t trouble the goalkeeper or their goal enough to get anything from the game. The right team won today.

“I’m raw because I’m frustrated that a group of players who have done so well so far this season have not got anywhere near the levels we have done in previous games.”

Stockport manager Dave Challinor praised his players as built on their 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon.

The two wins have followed a sticky start to the season, leaving Challinor delighted with the way his side have bounced back.

“We should take more confidence from the fact of how we went about it,” said Challinor

“Two big wins, especially on the back of what we’d had previously and especially on the back of being a little bit scarred, I suppose, by some of the games earlier on.

“To get those confidence-boosting wins like we have is massively important going into a massive game next week.

“The easiest thing for us today would be potentially to have gone 3-5-2 to match the systems and it becomes who’s better at the system. But we thought we can tweak the system in terms of pushing Powell higher up to become a 4-3-3.

“I’d like to think we can be adaptable. We’ve got the personnel to play as a four and as a three, but it’s ultimately about winning football matches and we’ve won the last two in fractionally different types of that formation, asking different questions of the opposition.”

Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield praised the impact of his substitutes after they helped see off MK Dons in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Brandon Hanlan struck the opener for the League One Chairboys deep into the second half before setting up the second for Chris Forino after the visitors had to endure an uncomfortable first 45 minutes at Stadium MK.

Bloomfield said: “We had to abandon all good plans because we had a couple of knocks and had to make another couple of changes.

“We’re still maybe slightly behind in our fitness with some of the boys but I was really pleased in terms of how the finishers came on and really impacted the game tonight.

“I thought Brandon was fantastic, and Tjay (De Barr) and Luke (Leahy).

“I thought the finishers came on and really helped us get over the line, which was a good impact to see.”

Wycombe goalkeeper Max Stryjek made good saves to deny Warren O’Hora and Alex Gilbey in the first half, which was shaded by the League Two Dons.

The Chairboys broke through after 73 minutes when Hanlan pounced after Craig MacGillivray pushed out Freddie Potts’ cross before Forino nodded in to make the tie safe with eight minutes remaining.

Dons boss Graham Alexander said: “I thought we certainly played our part in the game and I thought it was about both boxes in the end.

“They were a little bit more clinical than us because we certainly had the opportunities to score.

“I was disappointed to concede at that stage of the game because I thought we were doing reasonably well.

“There was still time for us to get back into the game, but we conceded a second, although even after that we still had opportunities to get one.”

Substitute Brandon Hanlan opened the scoring as Wycombe defeated Buckinghamshire rivals MK Dons 2-0 in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Victory at Stadium MK was just what the Chairboys needed to restore confidence after their opening-day loss against Exeter and they managed to avoid a minor upset against their League Two opponents.

The Dons shaded the first half, however, and almost went ahead when Warren O’Hora’s low 25-yard strike travelled through a crowd before being tipped behind by Wycombe goalkeeper Max Stryjek.

Stryjek was called upon again when he did well to get down to Alex Gilbey’s shot before Mo Eisa’s long-range effort clipped the top of the bar as the match remained goalless at half-time.

A lovely backheel by Sam Vokes opened things up for Wycombe’s Dale Taylor but his eventual shot was cleared off the line by Daniel Harvie.

The deadlock was finally broken by the Chairboys after 73 minutes when Hanlan was on hand to convert after Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray could only push out Freddie Potts’ cross.

The visitors then made the result safe with eight minutes remaining when centre-back Chris Forino headed in after Hanlan had nodded Luke Leahy’s corner back across goal.