Martin happy with a point after Sunderland draw

A point was probably a fair return between MK Dons and Sunderland, according to Russell Martin.

The thrilling 2-2 draw saw Dons fall behind after just five minutes to Charlie Wyke's strike, before Joe Mason and Cameron Jerome reversed Dons' fortunes to go 2-1 up after 19 minutes.

Luke O'Nien levelled 10 minutes into the second half, with both sides having chances to add a third before the final whistle.

Following Sunderland's 3-0 win over Dons on Tuesday night in the Papa John's Trophy, Dons boss Martin said his side showed no signs of a hangover from their loss four days earlier, and was happy with a share of the spoils.

"It's a good point," he said. "We had some good chances and on another day we'd have had a few more goals. If you didn't know the context and watched as a neutral, you'd think we were two teams fighting at the top end of the league for a win. We're just a little bit far behind at the moment.

"It was a really good game, with two good teams going toe-to-toe, battling for control and territory. It was a bit messy towards the end as we both went to win it.

"We were playing one of the best teams and strongest squads in the league. They're working hard under their new manager to get some momentum. In other Sunderland games, the last 20 minutes turns into them attacking and dominating and other teams hanging on but that didn't happen here.

"We started really well despite the early goal, which was outrageous, but we bounced back really well, and then struggled in the final 15 minutes of the first half and needed half time. But the second half was ding-dong. If the pitch was better, we'd have gained more control, given away fewer chances. But I'm proud of the players, they were tired towards the end."

Former defender Martin was typically frustrated with the goals his side conceded though.

He added: "We don't make teams work hard enough. Some of the quality of the goals we score is outstanding, but we're too soft. I didn't see their first goal coming at all. McGeady picks it up a long way from goal and it's one pass for them to score.

"The second one, we'd spoken about keeping McGeady outside, we let him inside and the one man who's unmarked ends up with the ball and scores.

"There is always something we can improve, so on Monday we'll go through it and try to make sure it doesn't happen again."