Early goals are back on the agenda for MK Dons

Shrewsbury scored three times in 19 minutes against Dons on Tuesday

"It's a stat I hate. I though we dealt with it and moved past it"

It was a stat Russell Martin had hoped his side had navigated through at last, but conceding first and early in games is back in full force at MK Dons.

Dons have conceded seven goals inside 20 minutes in five of their last eight games, and three of those goals came on Tuesday night against Shrewsbury in the 4-2 defeat.

Earlier this season, it was a similar story with Dons falling behind at the start of games but after seemingly fixed the problem, it is back on the agenda.

"It’s a stat I hate," admitted the manager. "It’s something we need to sort moving forward. I thought we dealt with it and moved past it. There is no pattern to the goals we concede, there isn’t one thing that is costing us.

"We’ve been forensic in how we assess it and why it’s happening but it’s been difficult to nail it down.

"Players are brilliant in finding solutions, but I hate the fact we are talking about it again. It hurts me, so we need to avoid it for the rest of the season. We can’t let it continue. Conceding early goals doesn’t let us do what we want to do. The amount of times the guys come back from an early goal and their togetherness is incredible – but I wish we wouldn’t have to do it."

Shrewsbury killed any chance of Dons salvaging points on Tuesday night by racing into a 3-0 lead after just 19 minutes, and after a chat with Shrews assistant manager Aaron Wilbraham afterwards, Martin said clubs are noticing apparent Dons' early weakness by going at them from the opening whistle.

He continued: "I spoke to Alby after the game and he said they wanted to go hard early on to get something.

"We get stronger as the games go on, so we have to prepare and match them. We need to control the game more and be more detailed. Physically we need to compete with teams because they come right at us."