Critical moments aren't being dealt with well enough, says Dons skipper

MK Dons’ in-game management in crucial moments needs to be better to get the side out of their current rut, according to Alex Gilbey.

The skipper admitted that on too many occasions this season the side have dropped the ball at important moments, culminating in some hugely frustrating spells in games, conceding goals and going on to lose matches.

“We need to look at our in-game management,” said Gilbey, with Dons losing nine of their last 13 games. “There are moments in games where individually and as a team, we're not dealing with problems well enough. They're what is costing us at the moment.

“It's really costing us at the moment. Even last season, starting second-halves slowly was a problem. We need to find something from within, all of us. These are the biggest moments in the games and they're costing us. We need to get rid of them.”

The players and staff had a team meeting together on Thursday morning to discuss Tuesday’s defeat at Barrow and their plans to face Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, where the skipper said there were some honest messages sent, but everyone needs to take those messages and put them into practice.

He said: “We keep having good meetings, but we have to actually take things on board. Today, I let the lads speak because if they keep hearing my voice in the group, it gets a bit tedious.

“I've got to be the most positive person in the building, which is hard at times because I need picking up sometimes too. But when you've got 25 lads in there who are low, I've got to pick morale up.

“It is hard at the moment, but we've got another game coming in a couple of days, we can't be moping around. We've got get back on it and try to get this win.”