Defender Baily Cargill says struggling MK Dons have to go 'back to basics'

Paul Tisdale's men suffered a fourth straight league defeat at Stadium MK on Saturday, sliding to a dismal 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burton Albion.

Dons have been hit badly by a string of injuries, but Cargill insists they cannot use that as an excuse, and they just need to concentrate on once again keeping clean sheets and turning their form around.

"That was tough to take," said Cargill following the loss to Nigel Clough's Brewers.

"Circumstances are tough at the moment, but we can't really blame it on that.

"It is disappoitning, all the players are disappointed, and I think we just need to get baclk to basics, and get back to keeping the ball out of the net.

"I thought we started the game quite well, we had a plan and we were sort of doing that, but unfortunately we gave away a sloppy goal and then struggled to get back into it.

"I wouldn't put it down to one certain thing, I think we have a lot to improve on, and we just need to put these results behind us and focus on the task in hand."

Dons haven't won in the league since seeing off Blackpool 3-0 back on September 14.

That was also the last time Tisdale's men kept a clean sheet in the league, as they have suffered defeats to Ipswich Town, Tranmere Rovers, Sunderland and Burton, and Cargill admits confidence has been hit.

“We’re in a bit of a sticky situation at the minute, and I think maybe if we were confident and doing well, the goals would’ve gone in and the chances we had on Saturday we might have taken on another day," said the 24-year-old.

“We need to get back to basics, get our confidence back and get back on the horse.

"We’re a good side, we’ve got some good players in our dressing room, we need to stop thinking about the past and just focus on the next game, although sometimes that is hard.

"It is never easy losing games, because it affects everybody at the club. We have to try and put it behind us and crack on."

Dons now have a free week ahead of the trip to the Memorial Stadium at the weekend, and Cargill feels that will be a benefit for him and his team-mates.

“We’ve got time to go back to the drawing board and find out what we’re doing wrong and make sure we put that right,” said the former Bournemouth man.

“We’ll work a lot on defensive issues this week and we’ve just got to be positive, there’s no point being down in the dumps and being sad about losing games.

"We need to get our chests out and make sure we’re ready for the fight against Bristol Rovers."