"Hardest match I've ever had to watch": Williamson on Dons' play-off capitulation

“The play-offs are brutal,” said Mike Williamson after his side were emphatically thrashed 5-1 at Stadium MK on Saturday night by Crawley Town, who booked their spot at Wembley in style.

Comprehensively beaten in every department across both legs, the 8-1 aggregate score line is one which spiralled out of control at MK1 as the Red Devils marched into the final, leaving a broken Dons in their wake.

Williamson said the defeat was one of the worst of his career, and found it a struggle to watch at times, with emotions as low as can be expected in the immediate aftermath.

“It was really tough. I feel for the boys, we really suffered. That was the hardest match I've ever had to watch and we've come up short.

“I've been in football a long time, and I've felt hurt like this before. This is right there with the worst.

“I think you can imagine how it is in (the dressing room). When you see the boys hurting like that, they're in a lot of pain, but that's the industry. We've got to feel it, and now convert it. I'm very confident they'll do that.”

On the game, he said: “We ran out of steam. We lost our shape, we looked ragged against a very good team, but we didn't stop running. There's a lot of honesty in there, but we have to make sure we have more next season.”