Accrington add to MK Dons' misery with comfortable victory

It was a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same for MK Dons as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night.

First-half goals from Tyler Walton and Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh saw the hosts ease to a much-needed win over Ben Gladwin’s side, with the club’s miserable run extending to 12 defeats from 17 games.

It leaves Saturday’s clash with Morecambe - who sit in the bottom two - even more significant, with Dons now looking ominously over their shoulders at a potential relegation threat.

For his first game in charge, Ben Gladwin made three changes to the side to face Accrington Stanley. Jay Williams was back from suspension and returned in the heart of the midfield, while Nico Lawrence and Scott Hogan were preferred to Callum Tripp and Danilo Orsi - the latter named amongst the substitutes.

The Gladwin revolution certainly saw Dons taking more risks at the back as they played out with more frequency, but the same problems persisted. They barely had any bite in the final third, with Hogan a footnote in the opening half, while issues at the other end would be their undoing.

Despite dominating the possession stats, twice Dons parted like the Red Sea to gift Accrington a precious 2-0 lead at half-time. The opener came after 24 minutes when Tyler Walton was gifted a free header to power the opener past Connal Trueman, before the second came 15 minutes later as a simple one-two allowed Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh time to pick his spot in the bottom corner.

Both sides are scrapping at the wrong end of League Two, and the quality on display certainly lived up to that. The second-half was a damp squib for both sides. Neither looked threatening, or even capable of threatening as the half dragged on to a finale.

Though the Stanley defence looked nervous under pressure, Dons seldom put them under pressure, struggling to get near Billy Crellin's goal, let alone close enough to force a chance as they went a second straight game without a shot on target.

Referee: Garreth Rhodes

Attendance: 1,596 (97)

Accrington Stanley: Crellin, Love, Rawson, Coyle, Henderson (Batty 78), Quirk, Ward, Matthews, Caton (Mooney 64), Walton, O'Brien-Whitmarsh

Subs not used: Kelly, Brown, Aljofree, O'Brien Hunter

MK Dons: Trueman, Waller (Lemonheigh-Evans 88), Lawrence, Offord, Patterson (Tomlinson 61), Nemane, Williams (White 61), Kelly (Orsi 71), Crowley, Gilbey, Hogan

Subs not used: MacGillivray, O’Reilly, Thompson-Sommers

Booked: Patterson, Lawrence, Quirk, Offord