A last-gasp equaliser from Dele Alli denied Crawley Town a remarkable victory against MK Dons at the Checkatrade.com Stadium.

Reds played more than half the game with striker Matt Harrold in goal after Brian Jensen had dislocated a finger before the interval.

A brace from Izale McLeod looked to have put Crawley on course to end an 11-game winless streak until Dons broke their hearts with two late goals.

Will Grigg halved the deficit with 14 minutes to go and then Alli fired home following a desperate scramble in the area in the sixth and final minute of injury time.

The result means Crawley slip to second from bottom in League One but the performance will give interim boss Dean Saunders plenty of encouragement.

Crawley were happy to let Dons have the majority of the ball in the first half but still posed a threat when they counter-attacked.

In fact they almost took the lead after just two minutes when Gavin Tomlin delivered a superb cross to the far post which looked like reaching McLeod until McFadzean just got a touch to divert it away.

Despite being pinned inside their own half for long spells Crawley were able to restrict Dons largely to efforts from distance, with Dele Alli curling a 20-yard effort just inches wide.

Reds took the lead in the 14th minute as they caught Dons out on the counter-attack. McLeod cut in from the left and was clumsily brought down by McFadzean just inside the area.

McLeod picked himself up to score past Dave Martin from the spot for his tenth goal of the season.

Crawley suffered their first injury blow in the 26th minute when Connor Henderson limped off having been caught late twice by Samir Carruthers.

Reds were able to bring on Lewis Young in a relatively straightforward swap but had no such luxury when Jensen was forced off five minutes before the break.

With no goalkeeper on the bench, striker Matt Harrold offered to don the gloves and almost played a part in conceding a penalty in injury time.

The emergency keeper rushed off his line in an attempt to intercept a ball into Alli but completely missed it. Alli was just about to pull the trigger when he went down under a challenge from Joe Walsh but the referee gave a corner.

Reds made the perfect start to the second half as McLeod scored his 11th of the season to give them a two-goal cushion.

The striker was allowed to turn inside the area and made Dons pay with a shot which went through the legs of a defender and past Martin.

The rest of the game resembled a session of attack against defence as Dons attempted to get back into the game.

They should have had an instant lifeline when Grigg blazed over from close range while Reeves saw his effort blocked by the legs of Harrold on the line when he should have scored from Dean Bowditch’s cutback.

Harrold had performed manfully in between the posts but was very nearly guilty of gifting the visitors a goal with 17 minutes to go. His clearance hit Grigg in the back and looped worrying towards his own goal but he was able to get back in time to rescue the situation.

Dons did halve the deficit three minutes later. Reeves floated over a cross from the right and Grigg rose above two defenders to head home from six yards.

Reds defended superbly to keep Dons at bay but they were finally breached deep into stoppage time when the ball fell kindly to Alli to shoot home from eight yards.