City 2, MK Dons 1

BRING on the Mackems! City delivered the perfect warning shot to FA Cup opponents Sunderland by roaring to a first league win for 2015.

MK Dons would have gone top with victory at Valley Parade last night but, despite scoring first, they were very much second best against Phil Parkinson's pumped-up Bantams.

Billy Clarke crowned his first start since before Christmas with the equaliser before James Hanson won it with his ninth goal of the season.

City moved back into the play-offs zone – for 24 hours at least – and can head into Sunday's fifth-round showdown with Gus Poyet's Black Cats in the best of spirits.

Boosted by the successful appeal against Jordan Pickford's weekend red card, Parkinson had resisted the temptation to shuffle his pack for City's second game in 48 hours.

There was only one change from the team that should have won at Port Vale as Clarke returned for his first start in ten games.

Clarke, who had made just one substitute appearance in that time, replaced Andy Halliday to make it a very attack-minded look for the hosts.

The focus on the MK Dons side was on wonder kid Dele Alli, who joined Tottenham in a £5million deadline-day deal and was loaned straight back for the rest of the season.

But there was also a nostalgic return in midfield for Keith Andrews following an equally late loan move from Bolton. He last started for the club seven years ago in their promotion campaign.

Dons boss Karl Robinson had finished his four-match touchline ban for shouting abusive words at a City player, understood to be Christopher Routis, during the first league encounter in September.

But he opted to watch the start of the game from the Valley Parade press box as his side chased the win that would lift them to the summit for 24 hours at least.

The state of the Valley Parade pitch has been the constant talking point and it had certainly dried out since the nadir of the Colchester game.

But the unpredictability of the surface was soon in evidence when Pickford was done by the bounce and shanked a clearance sideways out of play.

Gary Liddle got an important deflection on a Darren Potter shot before Clarke blazed high and wide from an angle.

Hanson had some early joy in the air and his knockdown from City's first corner needed a scrambled clearance inside his own goalmouth from Dons skipper Dean Lewington.

Valley Parade held its breath as Andrew Davies stayed down after making a tackle – always a worrying sign. But the big man was able to carry on after a couple of minutes of treatment.

Jonson Clarke-Harris had scored three times against City for Oldham last season, including twice at Valley Parade.

And the striker, on a month's loan at MK from Rotherham, threatened again with a volleyed touch from Andrews' long pass that only just cleared the City bar.

Then James Meredith hauled down Alli 25 yards out but Danny Green's free-kick bent away from goal by a couple of yards.

The surface was predictably making it very difficult for either side to get the ball down and play, despite their best intentions, but Clarke showed great persistence to stay on his feet after a trip.

He fed a pass through to Jon Stead, whose shot was straight at David Martin from the edge of the box – the first genuine save for either keeper.

Antony Kay was yellow-carded for fouling Clarke in the build-up and Filipe Moraiis and Carl Baker quickly followed into referee Paul Tierney's book after a touchline jostle.

A flurry of home corners followed and Jordan Spence bailed out his goalkeeper after Martin was beaten in the air by Rory McArdle as the Valley Parade volume cranked up.

McArdle was a strong presence at the other end and three times in a matter of seconds got his head to Baker crosses as half-time approached. Billy Knott and Clarke broke promisingly but the Irishman scuffed his shot across the Dons' goal.

City came out strongly after the restart and peppered the box with a string of crosses looking for something to drop. Both full backs were encouraged to push forward, with Meredith in particular always willing to overlap on the left.

But City's growing impetus was suddenly jolted as MK Dons struck with their first shot on target – and a big assist from the pitch.

Davies passed back to Pickford, who scuffed his clearance straight to Clarke-Harris. He calmly fed unmarked team-mate Alli, who guided the ball into the unguarded net.

It was a real blow to the Bantams – but they responded emphatically to draw level within two minutes.

Gary Liddle nodded on after Morais' cross had been booted in the air out of defence and the ball dropped conveniently for Clarke alone in the box to coolly tuck away.

Now we had a real contest on our hands, with the play switching from end to end. Knott's foul on Alli 20 yards out gave Baker the chance to test Pickford and he palmed the free-kick out to Lee Hodson, who nudged the rebound into the side-netting from close range.

It was a big miss – and City showed the would-be leaders how it should be done with 20 minutes left.

Stead, the assist machine, threaded a pass through the white shirts for strike partner Hanson to slide an angled shot beneath Martin, leaving Dons defenders appealing for handball during the build-up.

Robinson threw on two strikers on a rescue mission and Baker fired a warning shot past the post. The winger then threatened again through the middle but Pickford made amends for his earlier error with a superb scrambling save.

But City twice went close to a third goal from corners. First Davies flicked over the bar from Hanson's knock-down, then the striker was denied his second by Hodson's clearance off the line.

Four minutes of stoppages shredded a few nerves, given the recent late exploits, but a couple of towering headers away from Davies saw the job through.

Attendance: 11,948

City v MK Dons picture gallery