Dons must be braver and stay on the front foot after taking the lead

Scott Lindsey said he was as frustrated as some of the fans on Sunday when his MK Dons players were hesitant on the ball and gave up the chance to attack against Crewe Alexandra.

The head coach felt his side let the Railwaymen back into the contest after Joe White’s tenth minute strike initially gave the hosts the lead at Stadium MK, rather than asserting themselves and going after a second.

Squandering opportunities to pour forwards, instead opting to retain possession and reverting back, Lindsey admitted he was desperate for his side to be braver and go on the front foot, but said the players are ultimately in charge when it comes to their decisions on the pitch.

“It's a mentality thing,” said Lindsey. “It's easy for me to bark orders at them, but when they're out there it's a different feeling.

“I don't think we stepped forwards when we should've. We got our goal early, and after we scored, we spent the next ten minutes in our half. I want us to be braver, to step on and keep attacking, playing and creating opportunities to double the lead. But we seem to step back, invited Crewe onto us and we spent ten minutes in our half. I was disappointed with that.”

He continued: “We mixed the game up a bit more today, we got Aaron Nemane in behind, and we asked questions, but when we did go long, we didn't land on the second ball enough. We need to be better at that.

“We need to be more aggressive in what we do, not necessarily flying into tackles, but in the mindset to step forwards, and try and create more goals. And it will come, because I demand that.”