Darius Charles thanked his new team-mates for getting him through his AFC Wimbledon debut.

The central defender was drafted in on loan from Burton Albion last week to make his debut in the Dons 2-1 win over York City on Saturday.

Despite playing his first match in more than a year, the 28-year-old was a calming presence in the Dons’ back line and, although rarely called upon, looked composed throughout.

Charles said: “I was pleased to get through it, and I owe a massive thank you to the boys for helping me get through.

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“I’m relatively pleased with my performance, although I could have done better at times, but on the whole I’m pleased.”

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As you were: Darius Charles had a brief spell on loan at Sutton United while he was with Brentford

Another debutant, Rhys Murphy hauled Dons level after League Two strugglers York City took a first half lead, before Jake Reeves hit a great winner in the dying seconds.

Charles added: “The goal was fantastic and it was nothing short of what we deserved.

“Over the course of the 90-odd minutes we played well, we battled hard and we had the lion’s share of possession and chances.”

Despite winning in dramatic fashion, Charles felt it was no less than his side deserved.

“You work hard and for the most part you get what you deserve,” Charles added.

“But every so often there are moments like that goal that are the difference between making it and not.”

He added: “It’s a tough league and on any given day any team can play like a top side, so you have to be focused, you have to be determined, you have to be on your game and I think we did a really good job.”

Dons travel to Hartlepool on Good Friday followed by Portsmouth’s visit to the Cherry Red Records stadium on Sunday.

Charles said: “We’ve got to continue to move forward.

“We’ve got another massive game coming up which we need to get ourselves ready for. Everyone knows how they need to do that individually and as a group.”