Dons still paying the price for dropped early points

The price of winning just three times in nearly three months at the start of the season is still being felt by MK Dons.

No wins in their first six League One fixtures have set the pace for Russell Martin's side this season, batting in and around the high-teens in the table all season long, having dropped into the 20th for a spell too.

Despite a recent upturn in form and performance, which saw them climb to 14th at one stage, defeat on Tuesday night to Charlton saw them drop to 16th, three points behind Blackpool in 15th, and four of Shrewsbury in 17th - though they have three games in hand over Dons.

With his side sitting where they do in the table, Martin's frustration with the defeat to play-off contenders Charlton might seem out of place but for the manager, he says with Dons now into their groove, they are still paying for that slow start.

"We’ve shown we are really competitive against everyone," he said. "We are hard to play against and hard to beat, players give everything they’ve got and buy into what we do.

"I'm frustrated because I feel like we are chasing our tail from the start of the season when we didn’t pick up enough points. We are trying to fight and scrap to climb the table.

"We’ve got people coming back fit, I hope to have a couple more additions and there is a lot to be positive about. It’s shown how far we’ve come that we have a lot of dominance and we are disappointed when we lose.

"We have to get back on it very quickly and recover quickly, the players have often done that but I do feel disappointed."