The MK Dons head coach gave his thoughts after the 4-1 defeat to Norwich City on Saturday

Paul Warne admitted the gulf between a top Championship side and MK Dons was plain to see after Norwich City brushed his team aside in the Carabao Cup on Saturday.

The 4-1 scoreline flattered the hosts, according to the Dons head coach, especially given their opener coming inside 45 seconds at Carrow Road, courtesy of Mo Toure. The front-man would be a thorn in the side all afternoon for Dons’ defence, setting up their second just six minutes later as Anis Ben Slimane made it 2-0 in a bludgeoning opening.

Andre Brooks then added bagged two goals either side of the break, and Ryan Wintle’s first goal for Dons, as individual errors contributed thoughout the afternoon.

But while the 4-1 score did not fully reflect Norwich’s control, Warne said the difference between the sides shows what his team have to aspire to.

“I don’t think many of the other Championship sides lost out to lower-league sides, and I think Norwich will go on to have a very good season and I hope we will too, but fortunately we’re in different divisions,” he said afterwards. “I thought Norwich were excellent. The step up from League One to the Champ is pretty ferocious at best. Most of the teams that go up seem to come back down within two years.

“I appreciate the levels are really high, but we also gave them three goals. Better players punish you. The first goal was a screamer.

“As a learning curve, this is where we want to get to. All their players can run, can handle the ball, play forwards quickly, will hit diags, and we’ve found out how hard it is in the Champ.

“They’re spending nearly £10 million on a winger, and I’m not complaining about that, but this is different gravy.

“Our lads performed but at times got shown up. We’re fortunate that the scoreline was kept where it was because I honestly thought it could have been greater.”

Errors from the likes of Charlie Goode, Ben Wiles, Cohen Bramall and Callum Paterson all contributed to goals for the hosts, Warne said he admired his players’ attitudes when the challenge looked as steep as uphill could look, even after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing saw a second-half penalty saved.

He added: “I like that we were 2-0 but we didn’t give up and didn’t throw the towel in. And we didn’t lose the second-half. At 3-1 I thought we might have a bit of a game on but we hit the self-destruct button.

“We should’ve avoided those first two goals, and I don’t think we had those basics right. You have to credit Norwich, they pressed and came after everything. When they attacked, everyone attacked and it was very difficult to play against.”