Dons 'shot themselves in the foot' with appalling start

Russell Martin admitted the game was done and dusted early on as his side fell 3-0 down inside 19 minutes against Shrewsbury on Tuesday night.

After Sean Goss fired the hosts ahead after just four minutes, Dons conceded two penalties as Ollie Norburn and Curtis Main converted to leave Martin's side shell-shocked. While Will Grigg got one back, Goss' second just before the hour ended Dons' slim hopes of claiming anything from the game, though Charlie Brown netted a consolation late on.

"It was game over after 15 minutes or whatever it was," said Martin afterwards. "Everything we spoke about to be aware of, to do right we didn't do. We lacked the intensity and aggression they had. I've got no excuses really. We shot ourselves in the foot.

"We didn't recover well enough. I think we played with more urgency after that. We gave them the goal in the second half and it killed the game. Until then, we thought if we could get a goal it would have made things interesting.

"We have to cope better, and on the whole we have done. We've gone toe-to-toe with some really good teams recently and got some brilliant results, so we have to make sure tonight is a one-off.

"Griggy's goal gave us a bit of hope, but aside from their goals, they created very little. When you're 3-1 up, you have licence to be front-footed and aggressive and they did that to get their fourth."

The result is Dons' first defeat in six games after picking up 13 points from a possible 15 prior to the defeat. Though it sees Dons drop back into the bottom half of the table to 13th, Martin says one bad result will not impact on how his side will approach games in the next few weeks.

He continued: "This game will be treated like all the rest. I can't come out here and criticise the guys after the form recently. They've made big strides as a team and we have to make sure that continues.

"One defeat won't change my mind about where we have to improve. We know it will be tough until the end of the season. We will have results go against us, but we cannot have that first 15 minutes again."