Dons were 'verging on embarrassing' at Exeter

Two goals in the opening 17 minutes from Nicky Law and Jake Taylor left Dons with a mountain to climb, but they could have been even further behind after a terrible opening 45 minutes.

While Dons showed signs of life early in the second half and got back into it via a Joe Walsh header, the defender then conspired with keeper Lee Nicholls to allow Law a simple third, wrapping up all three points against Paul Tisdale's former club.

Speaking afterwards, captain Lewington admitted he was embarrassed by how bad Dons were in the first half.

"That first half was verging on embarrassing," he said. "In the second half, we played with some resemblance to normally would and we got back into it and we could get something. But an error has let them back in and it was a hard challenge to get back into it after that.

"We want to get out of League 2. If we can;t handle playing in front of 5,000 here today, we've got no hope. I'd hate for any player to use that as an excuse for a woeful performance."

Dons are without an away win since November 3, and Paul Tisdale questioned whether his side know yet how to win in this division when the going gets tough.

Lewington added: "I wish we knew, we all want to know because it's so frustrating. The first five minutes we looked ok. I can't use the words I want to. It;s nowhere near good enough. We played into the traps we were told they would set, and did all the things we were told not to do. As a group on the pitch, I don't know what we did it. We were warned and still did it.

"It has been terrible. When you look at the results, it is frustrating because while the results were poor, like Northampton and Bury, tough away games when we should have got three points. If we had picked up results there, it would have looked better. When you have bad days, it costs you. We've lost our rhythm and it's hard to explain why it comes and goes, it's just not with us at the moment."