MK Dons’ midfield went missing on Saturday, and it has to make a comeback

Both Paul Warne and captain Alex Gilbey admitted the MK Dons engine room must perform better if they are to come away from Shrewsbury with anything on Saturday.

The trio of Dan Crowley, Liam Kelly and Gilbey were brushed aside with relative ease by Accrington Stanley last weekend in the 2-1 defeat at Stadium MK, with the head coach highlighting the huge gaps between them as a key area of weakness - something which needs to be addressed.

“There wasn’t enough resistance,” he said. “This team performed really well at Chesterfield so I thought at home we’d have more or the ball, and could flip from having two sixes to two eights and it didn’t really happen.

“The midfield came too deep for the ball, into the back four, which didn’t flow, then the distances between them and the strikers was too great. I felt we left too big a gap, and then the duels all over the pitch we were unsuccessful for a team which sets out to win.”

Not short of games between them, Gilbey admitted none of the central trio were on their game last Saturday, and that whatever combination of midfielders takes to the Croud Meadow pitch in Shrewsbury must perform significantly better if they are to get back on winning form.

He said: “In all the games this season, we’ve worked as a unit, we’ve been close together, and on Saturday we were all over the place. All three of us know we weren’t at the races, and it was simple things: running together, backing each other up and we didn’t do that. We were all over the place. We let the manager down, and we know we have to bounce back.

“None of us were on tune and when all three of you are off it, it shows the gaps. We’ve all had a chat about it, we know what everyone expects from us and we have to go and fix it on Saturday.”