Dons were ‘architects of their own downfall’ in defeat to Crewe

Graham Alexander said his MK Dons side were the inventors of their own problems in the second-half as they threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1 to Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

Leading through Jonathan Leko’s eighth minute goal - his third of the season - and cruising into half-time, there only looked like one winner at the Mornflake Stadium.

But a rejuvenated Crewe emerged at the break and, much like in the wins over Tranmere Rovers and Doncaster Rovers, Dons were shadows of their first-half selves after the restart.

Goals from Conor Thomas and Courtney Baker-Richardson turned the score around, before Chris Long’s 90th minute goal sealed the win for the Railwaymen.

“We told the players at half-time one was not enough, we couldn't sit back,” said Alexander afterwards.” But I thought we were the architects of our own downfall.

“I've seen the goals back, and we're not committing to what we're doing. We have to address it and correct it because it's hurting us.

“We were by far the better team in the first-half, but we have to be ruthless when we're on top so strongly, and extend our lead.

“I think of the six games, every team has made changes at half-time against us because we've been so on top. It's difficult to predict what they will change. But we've got our defensive principles which are consistent, and we showed last week we can defend against different systems.

“It's easy to say things in a meeting room, but taking it onto the pitch is where we are hurting ourselves. We have to correct that quickly, because when you look at that first-half, we should have gone on to win the game.”