Former Maidstone striker Joe Pigott hailed a 'miraculous' escape after firing AFC Wimbledon to safety.

Pigott's five goals in April saw him named League 1 player-of-the-month and took his tally for the campaign to 18.

It's been an amazing first full season at the Dons for Pigott who left Maidstone - his hometown club - in January last year.

They were 10 points adrift in March but Pigott's goals secured survival for Wally Downes' side.

Pigott, 25, said: "It's pretty miraculous, I've got to say.

"After we won three on the spin we thought, 'yeah, we've given ourselves a chance here.' That's what sparked it.

"We were in a really bad place before Wally Downes took over.

"We'd lost eight in a row and he came in and changed a few things and we ended up staying up which at one point didn't look likely because we were 10 points from safety.

"It's pretty ridiculous that we've managed to get over the line.

"People wrote us off and we've come back and managed to do it.

"I had a decent season, even with a few months out injured over Christmas and into January, so to get 18 goals is a pretty good achievement under the pressure of a relegation battle."

Pigott, who started his career at Charlton, scored on his Dons debut last season but took time to find his feet back in the Football League.

He's been one of the best strikers in the division this season, though, scoring against Premier League West Ham in the Carabao Cup and bagging the first hat-trick of his career in a 4-3 win over Rochdale.

• Pigs a league player

• Pigott leaves Maidstone

Pigott said: "You've always got to prove how good a player you are, no matter where you're playing.

"I knew I could do it at this level, it just took a bit of time.

"I scored on my debut and scored a few important goals last season - three or four winners - but I still had a lot to learn and it took six months to get up to speed.

"I found it quite hard at first but I got there in the end."

Pigott has two more years left on his Wimbledon contract after signing a new deal in November and wants to go for promotion.

He said: "I've had three relegation battles in three seasons - one when I went on loan to Maidstone and two here - so it would be nice to have a promotion push instead of a relegation battle.

"I'm sure the manager will be looking to crack on next season.

"We showed promotion form at the end of the season and if we take that into next season, anything's possible."

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