Angry Martin is tired of repeating himself

Accrington Stanley 2-1 MK Dons

It was a familiar story for Russell Martin as he spoke after losing to Accrington Stanley 2-1 on Saturday.

Russell Martinplaceholder image
Russell Martin

Dion Charles netted twice for the hosts, either side of a Carlton Morris solo strike as Dons could not continue their winning run away from home.

The visitors controlled long periods of the game at the Wham Stadium, but a poor opening 20 minutes or so and a defensive lapse around the hour mark would cost Dons any share of the spoils as they remained 17th in the standings.

"I've said it too many times this season," said the Dons boss. "For the first 10 minutes we were horrible. We spoke about it before the game, how they'd come at us on a tough pitch and with loads of energy, and that's exactly how it turned out and we didn't do well enough with that. We found ourselves a goal down which has happened too much.

"But after that, the response and the performance was really really good. We had a lot of shots on goal, double theirs, we had three shots against us on target and two went in. It has been the case too many times.

"We had to make changes after three games in six days, but the last it of information we gave to someone who came on wasn't acted upon and it has cost us. That's the small details that matter.

"I'm really hurt to lose because we shouldn't lose. We've been the best team. I'll get criticised because I've said it too many times, but we were dominant. We weren't good enough in the final third for how many times we got there, but we've ended up losing."

Yet again, Dons found themselves trailing inside the opening 10 minutes of the game as Dons make a lethargic start to the game, allowing Charles the first of his brace.

It was yet another source of frustration for Martin, who continued: "The first action was poor from kick-off. Maybe we've spoken too much about it. They're all as angry as I am about it. We gave Accrington too many chances to feel like they were getting rewards. We just weren't tidy enough and were anxious on the ball.

"We play like a team that should be higher, every other manager echoes that, so I have a huge amount of pride when I watch what we do. But you have to match it with the dirty side, and the basics. We're not helping ourselves at the start. I'm not going to be over the top with this, but they've been good enough to beat us."

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