Martin satisfied with Dons' performance after goal-less draw with Northampton

The search for an away win in League One goes on, but MK Dons boss Russell Martin was pleased with his side's showing in the 0-0 draw with Northampton Town on Tuesday night.

Cobblers defender Fraser Horsfall had the better of the rare chances at the PTS Academy Stadium, heading wide and then seeing one thud the bar in the second period, while Dons had a penalty appeal waved away when Cameron Jerome was downed by Alan Sheehan.

The only blot on Dons' copybook though came in the first half when Scott Fraser limped out of the game.

While their away-day drought was extended to 20 league games, Martin said he was pleased to have extended their run to three undefeated in League One.

"I feel like we were in control pretty much for the whole game," he said afterwards. "I'm proud with how little we gave them away from home on a tough pitch. There are a few things I'm disappointed with in the final third, especially when Scott Fraser came off. But we dominated in the second half and they only came close through set pieces.

"On the whole, I'm pleased with the performance, I'd have liked to create more but it's tough when they stick so many bodies behind the ball.

"It has been a good week, unbeaten in three, and we should have won on Saturday. But we've come a long way in terms of defensive mentality, the tempo too. We've been really aggressive with the ball and how we move up the pitch. I'm pleased with a clean sheet at a tough place to come.

"We've had some fantastic away performances which have warranted more points – it's frustrating but it will come. It turned into a home game for us really, the amount of control we had. It never got into an open game with us camped in our goal. If we continue to do that, we'll win away from home."

Jerome was shaping to shoot barely two minutes after the restart as he was bearing down on goal before dramatically falling to the ground just inside the penalty area, though went unrewarded with a penalty or a free-kick. His manager though was unsure whether Sheehan's challenge should have resulted in a penalty, but felt there was no other reason for Jerome to go down.

He said: "I think it's just outside the box, but he's just about to shoot. It's a foul, I'd need to look back at it. Common sense and logic says he's not just going to go down, it's ridiculous, but you win some, you lose some."