Dons cannot afford to be shot-shy again against promotion rivals

MK Dons must be more threatening in the final third on Saturday when they face Crewe Alexandra than they were on Tuesday night in the 1-0 defeat to Grimsby Town.

'If you don't shoot, you won't score' is the old football adage but Dons had just one shot on target all night at Blundell Park in the week, with Dan Kemp's second-half effort cleared off the line on a night the visitors struggled to get shots off.

Despite having the ball for 79 per cent of the game, head coach Mike Williamson felt his side struggled to carry much threat when they got into the final third of the pitch, smothered out by a low-lying Grimsby defence, but also hampered by a lack of ultimate quality.

Taking huge numbers of shots though is something Dons were told to do less off a couple of months ago, when assistant head coach Ian Watson admitted the side were perhaps firing on goal too often rather than finding the right pass for a goal.

Watson's comments came after Dons let off 65 efforts in three games, scoring six, prior to beating Gillingham at the end of January. In the 11 games since, they have only shot 93 times, scoring 15 goals.

After Tuesday's defeat and poor show in front of goal, forward Stephen Wearne admitted they have to take more risks in front of goal.

"We had only one shot on target," he said. "Law of averages would suggest you're not going to score. We need to look at different ways of breaking teams down and getting shots off.

"On Tuesday, we gave everything, we went into it with a plan and have looked back on it and wondered how we could change things."

Williamson added: "We've got to threaten the goal more. We know if we want to take the points, we'll have to stand up to teams like Crewe, in and out of possession, the physicality and set-pieces."