AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson praised his players for putting in a real shift as they earned a 2-1 win at Rochdale.

Goals either side of the break from Ayoub Assal and Josh Davison put the visitors 2-0 up before Tyrese Sinclair pulled one back for the home side.

“It was a good away performance and a much-needed win for us,” said Jackson. “We really needed the points so I’m pleased with the lads, they put a magnificent shift in and I thought we thoroughly deserved the win.

“We scored two well-worked goals, two different types of goals and that’s what you want from your forward players. We’ve worked a lot on Ayoub making runs from outside to in and he’s got on the end of one with a really tidy finish looping it over the goalkeeper.

“Then we had a simple goal with Josh Davison – we know the threat he poses to opposition defenders on the shoulder and anything in behind is never a bad ball for him because he turns mediocre ones into good ones for the team with his willingness to run and his physicality.

“He did brilliantly to chase it down and sniffed blood once the defender let it bounce and took the finish really well.

“Rochdale’s goal was a bit of a disappointment, that was a minor frustration on an otherwise positive day.”

The teams had traded blows in a scrappy opening half hour before Assal broke the deadlock, lifting the ball over the advancing Richard O’Donnell in the Dale goal.

The Dons’ second arrived in the 64th minute, Davison racing onto a punt downfield and beating a defender to the ball before slipping a decisive finish beneath O’Donnell.

Sinclair side-footed home two minutes later to give Dale hope but the Dons’ game management was superb.

Dale boss Jim Bentley said: “It wasn’t up to the standard I expect of the team. We started really well and had a couple of opportunities, good chances to score and you’re thinking, ‘great, we’ve set the tempo and got up to speed straight away’. But five or 10 minutes in it just started fizzling out.

“Fair play to Wimbledon, we’d worked on them playing a back three and they’ve changed shape, made a couple of personnel changes and it just became a scrappy game.

“It was dour, we didn’t give the fans anything to cheer or get behind. In the second half we played with a little bit more tempo and endeavour.

“You only need to come a couple of per cent below your standards and you get found out. That’s what happened and it became a scrappy game.”