Play-offs are a 'privilege' - Dons boss Williamson

Mike Williamson - with MK Dons captain Dean Lewington - hopes to be part of a promotion-winning team

MK Dons head coach Mike Williamson has urged his team to make sure they channel their emotions in a positive way in their League Two play-off against Crawley Town.

The Dons finished fourth in the table, three places above their opponents, but have never achieved promotion via the play-offs in five previous attempts.

They will be away from home for Monday's first leg, with the winners to face Crewe Alexandra or Doncaster Rovers at Wembley on 19 May.

"We're ready for a really big challenge and we've got to win it minute by minute," Williamson told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"I personally - and the club - have had many experiences to learn from. We always talk about you either win or you learn - there's a lot of lessons in defeat - and we've got to make sure we go into this better off for the pain and suffering that we've experienced in the past."

The Dons were beaten by Shrewsbury Town in the League Two play-offs in 2007 - their four other play-off let downs were all in attempts to reach the Championship from the third tier.

The three promotions in their 20-year history were all achieved by going up automatically.

Honours were even with Crawley in the regular season, with a 2-1 defeat in Sussex last August followed by a 2-0 success at Stadium: MK in December.

"We're in a sport where it's always [about] the next thing, you've always got to push and even if you win, you've got to win the next game and the next game and then another seasons starts, it's relentless but it's good to just pause, enjoy where we are and look forward to the challenge," said Williamson.

"It's a privilege. If we were mid-table and sitting there on our summer holidays, we'd be watching the play-offs and be a little bit jealous and wishing we were in that situation."

The former Gateshead boss said, however, that trying to control emotions as much as possible would be a key factor, even though there will be moments when they come to the surface.

He added: "If you look at the most successful people in the world, they're kind of the most mechanical, methodical, emotionless people, they are very process-driven in everything they do at the top level and when emotion comes, they use it to serve them, to funnel it and channel it [in a positive way].

"What would the game be if we were just watching AI run round, a bunch of robots. We are emotional beings and we enjoy seeing emotion, seeing managers getting animated and frustrated, arguments and blow ups, it's so emotive and we all want to win.

"When it's not just a standard [game], managers will say, 'Oh, it's just another game,' but of course, there are many more layers to it."