Dons showed more ‘mental toughness’ after heavy defeats

Mark Jackson felt his side showed more mental toughness despite losing for a third time in a row on Saturday.

It has been a brutal few weeks for MK Dons, taking on Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday on the road before hosting Ipswich Town - all sides who were in the top three when Dons played them.

And after conceding five in back-to-back games against the Trotters and the Owls, the head coach admitted morale was desperately low, not just in defence, but throughout the team.

Claiming his side were ‘too easy to score against’ after the defeat at Hillsborough, Jackson felt Dons were defensively a lot better despite the 1-0 defeat to Ipswich Town on Saturday and he hopes they can build on it against sides in and around them over the next month.

“Our focus this week was not conceding as many chances,” he said. “It was difficult to take, really hard. It as a difficult week for us as a group, a challenge. It hurt, it really hurt everyone.

“The performance (against Ipswich) though showed a mental toughness that we need to take going forwards, and we have to take it into the next few games.”