Saints loanee Jake Hesketh opened his account for MK Dons with a goal-of-the-season contender.

The midfielder was playing his second match for the League Two side, which ended in a defeat to Swindon, but saw him notch an assist and a goal.

Hesketh left Saints last month on loan in search of regular game time, having spent the first part of the season with Burton Albion.

The 22-year-old said: "It's nice to score, but it means nothing at the end of the day.

Jake Hesketh in action for MK Dons

"It takes the shine off – it's nowhere near as enjoyable. It's one of those things.

"I think I did some good things, some things I need to work on, I'm still settling into a new team and a new way of playing, but the lads have made it really easy.

"I'd moved out to the right of the diamond as the game went on, and it gave me the opportunity to cut inside.

"We felt after the equaliser we were back in it, so to concede so soon after wasn't ideal. But we bounced back and got right back on the front foot."

👏👌 Great team work and a finish to match!



⚽️ @MKDonsFC's Jake Hesketh scored one of the goals of the weekend with this pearler... pic.twitter.com/L88CbvmeiS — Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) February 11, 2019

Hesketh’s move to MK Dons saw Saints come under fire from Burton manager Nigel Clough.

Clough criticised the St Mary’s side for pricing them out of a deal which would have seen Hesketh return to them for the remainder of the season.

However, the Daily Echo understands that the League One club were told last summer that a loan fee would have to be paid if they were to extend his stay from January onwards.

Burton manager Nigel Clough

During his time at Burton, Hesketh played 23 times, scoring three goals. He helped them reach the League Cup semi-final but had returned to Saints before they got beat 10-0 over two legs to Manchester City.

Clough said: “Southampton wanted something different and wanted a bit of money for him, and unfortunately for Jake, he has ended up stepping down to League Two.

"I'd have thought that, having had such a good first half of the season in League One, Southampton would've wanted him to at least stay at this level.

"We just thought the benefit that Southampton and Jake were getting from him being with us wasn't worth a little bit of finances that Southampton were asking for.

"When you think they get £150m in the Premier League a few quid for a young player isn't going to make too much difference for them.”