Lewie admits Dons have got what they deserve this season

Dean Lewington is not one to mince his words. The Dons skipper is on the eve of his 800th career appearance - a landmark which means little ot him - but more pressingly, is playing for a club in the League One relegation zone.

While Dons have had more possession than their opponents in almost every game they have played this season, they have just three wins to their name so far, and two of those have come in the EFL Trophy.

Lewington isn't interested in the statistics though, much like his latest career landmark. He says having the ball in the middle of the pitch means nothing if Dons are ineffective in both penalty areas.

He said: "We are getting what we deserve, we need to be harsh with ourselves and not paint it up to be better than it is. We are better than anyone between the boxes – but you don’t win games there.

"I don’t want to say we deserve more because you get what you deserve. From box-to-box we’ve been the best team in the league, but the two boxes have cost us. Defensive lapses and not following instructions and a bit of timidness - it is ultimately why we are where we are.

"I think a lot of the teams would be saying the same – it’s not rocket science. Gillingham was the one game we executed our game plan properly, we scored first and had total dominance in the second half. We’ve conceded first too often and it’s hard to open teams up when 11 men are behind it. It’s been our own worst enemy and we’re working hard to try improve that.

"I think we feel like we’re doing well, we are controlling games and limiting teams to very little but that seems enough to beat us – that’s hugely frustrating. We don’t want to be where we are, we want to improve every day to get us out of it."