A familiar feel to Dons' defeat at Stadium MK

Saturday was a frustrating day at the office, no doubts about it. From one-way traffic to driving the wrong way up the street, Dons' defeat to Doncaster was a tale of two halves.

The opening 20 minutes was as good as Dons have been in a while. The attacking partnership of Carlton Morris, flanked by Rhys Healey and Alex Gilbey looked potent and almost certain to score as excellent chances fell to all three... only for their finishing to let them down. Players miss chances, it happens. But at some stage, someone other than Healey has to score. Since February 1, Healey has scored all but two of Dons' goals.

David Kasumu looked strong in midfield, the defence looked assured, Lee Nicholls even looked more like a midfield than a goalkeeper as he was allowed space to roam 40 yards from his own goal unimpeded.

Failing to beat Donny keeper Seny Dieng in that rampant opening half left Dons open to exactly what unfolded in the second half. More times than we all care to remember, it's a well-trodden narrative at Stadium MK: Dominate, don't take the lead, get caught out, get shut out by a team who sits deep, lose 1-0. If you've not seen it before, you must be pretty new! But as a League One team playing, league table belying, midtable football, these games inevitably happen. After an excellent, if unexpected point against Rotherham last week, losing to Doncaster isn't as big a blow as it could have been.

Results elsewhere weren't kind to Dons either. Tranmere, Rochdale and Lincoln all won, and the gap to safety has been cut back to eight points, though there are still two teams who will drop into the bottom three before Dons will should Tranmere pull off a sensational salvage job in the next few weeks. They take on Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night.

It has been a tough stretch of fixtures for Russell Martin's side, and face another with a trip to third placed Oxford United next Saturday. One point from a possible nine tells one story, while 12 from 24 also tells a totally different one. But points mean the ultimate prize of League One safety, and the sooner they can be mathematically safe, the easier everyone can rest in the next few weeks.