Uwe Rosler felt United should have "killed the game off" during the early stages of the second half of Saturday’s 2-1 win at MK Dons, but the head coach was pleased with how his side "dug deep" to claim the three points.

First-half goals from Chris Wood (penalty) and Charlie Taylor sent Rosler’s men into the break with a 2-0 lead, despite the hosts spurning a number of chances in the opening 45 minutes.

United returned from the break on the front foot, though, with Sam Byram and Alex Mowatt both threatening in pursuit of a third.

But it was largely one-way traffic during the final 25 minutes as the home crowd urged their side forward, regardless of being reduced to 10 men following Samir Carruthers’ straight red card.

Substitute Simon Church pulled one back for the Dons, converting Josh Murphy’s low cross from close-range, but United held firm amid a surge of late pressure to see out the game and return to winning ways.

“There were so many twists and turns in the game,” Rosler said.

“Being 2-0 up at half-time, I felt we managed the first 15-20 minutes of the second half and were pressing for a third goal.

“I felt we could have easily scored in that period. Then the panic button came into play, even with a man more.

“All credit to MK Dons, they made some tactical changes. They put ball after ball in our box and found a momentum with corners.

“We found it difficult to get the ball down to play, even with our one-man advantage.

“In this league you need to find a way to win, even when you’re not playing pretty over 90 minutes. That’s what we did in the end."

The head coach continued: “When you see the whole game and how big the chances were for both teams, I think we should have killed the game off in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“We didn’t do that and we made it difficult for ourselves for the last half an hour.

“But it’s about character. The team dug deep and were terrific.

“We were a little bit nervous, you could see that. We had not won many games on the road.

“We had not been beaten in many games but I think the Bristol City game was in the back of our minds today.

“That’s understandable for me but that will get better.”

Rosler was also full of praise for goalscorer Taylor, who doubled United’s lead with a stunning solo strike.

“I think Charlie Taylor has been magnificent throughout the whole season,” he said.

“I had the luxury of giving Gaetano a bit of a break. The last time we had three games in one week, Scott Wootton came in and did very well at Bristol City.

“I had that luxury on the right hand side. On the left Charlie has played every single game and he’s doing that very impressively.

“He has a great future in front of him. He’s willing to learn and he’ll keep getting better and better.”