Boss Tisdale confident the tide is going to turn for MK Dons

Paul Tisdale has played down suggestions his MK Dons side are in freefall, insisting they are confident the tide will quickly turn
MK Dons boss Paul TisdaleMK Dons boss Paul Tisdale
MK Dons boss Paul Tisdale

The Dons suffered a fifth straight Sky Bet League One defeat at the hands of Bristol Rovers, with Tom Davies notching the only goal of the game minutes into the second half.

Their eighth defeat of the season leaves the Dons 18th in the table and just three points above the relegation zone.

But Dons boss Tisdale is adamant they can turn things around and get back on track, even though only two sides have scored fewer than his side’s 12.

"The commitment and work rate are always a prerequisite but there would be teams in this situation who would start to wane and ours is not,” he said.

“It's a plus when you've just lost five games on the bounce that the players still had that drive, energy and work rate, but we all know we need something to go our way.

“We need to make it go our way and find a way. We would have wanted a clean sheet today, they scored from a set-piece which will always demand questions going into work on Monday but we know exactly where we are with it.”

Tisdale made two changes for the trip to the Memorial Stadium, with Bailey Cargill replacing Regan Poole, who was away on international duty with Wales, and George Williams in for Alex Gilbey.

Ben Reeves and Jordan Houghton returned to the matchday squad after being out injured and the switches seemed to work as the Dons enjoyed a lot of possession in the first half, but it was the hosts who created the better chances.

Davies handed the hosts a deserved lead in the 49th minute as he bundled home, while Hiram Boateng came closest to levelling proceedings when he was kept out by Van Stappershoef.

“The players still played some good football, they still tried to play our way, but there's no hiding the fact we're lacking attacking options and the moment and we've got to find a way to do it,” Tisdale added.

“We've got to keep working on it."