Bees had the sting taken out of them by Dons boss' pen

Paul Warne believes the first-half between MK Dons and Barnet back in November was one of the worst performances from his side this season, and that a pen sparked them back into life.

A dismal opening 28 minutes in particular saw Dons torn apart by the Bees at The Hive, trailing by two goals after Adam Senior and Mark Shelton hit the back of the net in north London.

Although Jack Sanders pulled one back six minutes before the break, it was the hosts who fully deserved their advantage at the break.

A furious Warne lit a rocket under his side at half-time, and Dons emerged a different prospect for the second-half. Kicking towards the sold-out away end, they snatched an equaliser through a thunderous effort from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to leave with a point, though a Luke Offord volley could have won it for the travelling side.

Discussing the game ahead of this Saturday’s reverse fixture at Stadium MK, Warne said the game at The Hive came to life as a result of some unexpected stationary.

He said: “Barnet, in fairness to them, contributed to us having one of the worst 45 minutes of the season. The first-half there I think was the only time I’ve absolutely lost it. I threw a pen against the wall and it puffed like a tiny explosion, it was way more theatrical than I thought and it worked because we drew the game!”

With the Bees heading to MK1 for the early kick-off in relatively patchy form but still with an eye on a late dash for the play-offs, Warne said: “They caused us all sorts of problems all over the pitch. I’m hoping they won’t be at their very best, because we’ll have to be at our very best to beat them. On their day, they can give us a right cracking, so we’ve got to really turn up.

“It will be another tough game. They’ve got really good players, I’ve always liked their wide players and they’ve got goal threats.”