Substitute Rhodes comes to the rescue of Middlesbrough to earn point at Dons

Dean Bowditch’s ninth-minute goal had looked to have given relegation-battling Dons a vital win, but Rhodes climbed off the bench to net a leveller deep into stoppage time at stadium:mk.

It was Rhodes’s first goal for Middlesbrough since joining from Blackburn last week and helped his new side move a point clear at the top of the Sky Bet Championship standings, overtaking Hull City.

Middlesbrough went into the game having picked up just one point from their previous three matches, yet head coach Aitor Karanka still initially opted to keep Rhodes on the bench.

He was forced into a defensive change, with Tomas Kalas replacing the injured Daniel Ayala, and his side’s back four was breached inside the first 10 minutes.

Kyle McFadzean launched a long ball forward, but with Ben Gibson ball-watching, Bowditch was able to gain possession.

The striker’s low shot was weakly struck, but goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos somehow allowed it to squirm from his grasp and roll into the net.

Boro almost responded immediately, Cristhian Stuani latched on to David Nugent’s through ball, but his shot was too close to goalkeeper David Martin.

The visitors spurned two chances within the space of 60 seconds. First, Nugent rolled a 12-yard shot wide before Ritchie De Laet saw his effort blocked.

Rhodes came on for the final 22 minutes, and the Scot made his decisive intervention deep into stoppage time. De Laet swung over a hanging cross from the left and Rhodes looped in a header.

Milton Keynes Dons: Martin, Baldock, McFadzean, Walsh, Lewington, Carruthers, Forster-Caskey, Bowditch (Maynard 70), Emmanuel-Thomas (Potter 62), Murphy, Revell (Spence 85). Unused substitutes: Powell, Cropper, Williams, Hall.

Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Kalas, Gibson, De Laet, Forshaw (Rhodes 69), Leadbitter, Stuani (De Pena 69), Ramirez (Kike Sola 85), Downing, Nugent. Unused substitutes: Clayton, Mejias, De Sart, Fry.

Referee: A Davies (Hampshire).