When he signed for Dons in the summer, Adebayo Akinfenwa had no idea of the depth of the rivalry between franchise club MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon – but now he does.

The striker hit the winning goal on Tuesday night after coming on as a second half substitute with the Dons 2-1 down.

Having played in the 3-1 Capital One Cup defeat in August, Akinfenwa had tasted the ill-feeling between the clubs, making the Johnstone’s Paint win all the more sweet.

Akinfenwa, who has five goals in the past five games, said: “Scoring the winner was a nice feeling.

“It didn’t sink in on the night because I was caught up in the emotion of it, but receiving all my tweets and text messages the following morning reaffirms how deep and meaningful the result is for our fans.

“It’s a cliche to say you win games for the fans, but this result was definitely for the fans. I now see how much it means to them.”

He added: “Any time you go on the pitch you want to score goals and make an impression, but more than anything the team played very well on Tuesday night.

“Hopefully we can use it to build on.”

The 32-year-old admitted to knowing nothing of the story of AFC Wimbledon’s rise from the ashes.

“I had no idea of the depth of feeling between the clubs before I joined,” he said.

“I’ve played MK numerous times, so for me they were just another club that I have come across in my career, win, lose or draw.

“But now AFC Wimbledon is my club and in that first game in the Capital One Cup there was just something different.

“It was a shame we could not win then, but to be given another chance and to know what it meant to our fans, it was good for us to be able to give them that victory. They deserve it.”