issue. On 6 March, he returned from suspension for his tenth yellow card, only to be sent off for kicking an opponent late in the home defeat to Yeovil Town. After a lengthy talk with the player, manager Robinson stated publicly that if Gleeson did not learn from his mistakes, he would not be offered another contract. He and Potter were both named in the Professional Footballers' Association's League One Team of the Year, and together with winger Luke Chadwick were among the top ten players as chosen by the League One managers. MK Dons narrowly failed to overcome a 2–0 deficit to Huddersfield Town in the second leg of the play-off semi-final. Gleeson was in tears afterwards, and Robinson said that the criticism he had received during the season for an apparent attitude problem was misplaced. According to the manager, his "[looking] like he's moody, doesn't care and only does it for himself" is a misperception; "he gets wrapped up the fact that he cares so much – sometimes he shows it in the wrong way." Despite interest from numerous Championship clubs, Gleeson signed a new two-year contract, saying that he wanted to play at that level with MK Dons and with Robinson. Another two years Robinson's team, built round Gleeson, Potter and Chadwick, were second in the table by the end of November. On 2 December 2012, Gleeson produced another goal from distance to open the scoring in MK Dons' first meeting with AFC Wimbledon. MK Dons won 2–1 to progress to the third round of that season's FA Cup, and the goal was voted the club's goal of the season. A couple of weeks later, he suffered a break in his left foot during training, which coincided with Chadwick damaging knee ligaments. During their absence, MK Dons dropped down the league. Gleeson returned in a match against Doncaster Rovers on 5 March 2013, which he celebrated with a goal to seal a 3–0 victory. Captaining the side in Dean Lewington's absence through injury in April, Gleeson scored a late winner against Brentford to lead the team to a second consecutive victory as they went on to finish four points outside the play-off places. Robinson speculated whether the disruption to the team caused by Gleeson's and Chadwick's injuries might have cost them promotion. Early in the new season, Gleeson played an influential part in MK Dons twice coming