Cambridge boss Neil Harris staying positive despite MK Dons’ agonising equaliser

Neil Harris was upbeat despite his Cambridge side being denied victory over MK Dons at the death.

The U’s looked set to secure a massive three points courtesy of Shayne Lavery, only for the visitors to snatch a draw in the sixth minute of stoppage time through Aaron Collins’ penalty.

“I’m pleased with a point,” Harris said. “Probably the best prepared team in the division to get promoted this year have come to stop us. That’s fair play to my changing room for being so good here.

“It was a bit weird, the tension in the game, considering we’ve still got 12 games to go. Me and Paul Warne were probably the calmest two people in the stadium because it’s just another game of football for us two.

“The atmosphere was tense. There was a lot riding on the game because they go above us or we can stretch away from them. It’s a really strong point. We’ve got ourselves into a wonderful position with 12 games to go.

“Swindon have already not won today so we’re going to be in the top three come the end of the day. With 12 games to go, if you’d said that to me at the start of the season I’d have snapped your hand off.

“They’re a really good side, a club ready to go. That’s what we’re battling with, and we are battling. That’s why I praise my players, who have done bloody brilliant. That’s why it’s a strong point today.”

MK Dons boss Warne felt his side deserved their draw, however late it had been secured.

“I’m really pleased to take a point when it looked like we weren’t going to get it,” he said.

“We tried to win the game. At 0-0 we were making subs, we went with two up top. We weren’t happy with a point, we wanted all three but unfortunately we weren’t good enough today.

“I know we scored late on so it makes it more frustrating for the opposition. We sort of leave feeling like we’ve won and they sort of leave feeling like they lost, but neither’s the case. I think it was two good teams cancelling each other out.

“After going one goal down it’s like it takes a bit of pressure off our play, which you don’t want the player to have but they are a human being. They want to win desperately. After they scored it was only a matter of time before we did score.

“In my head it’s (the penalty) a big moment in the season because if we miss that we go home feeling sorry for ourselves. We deserved a draw.”