“It feels like a loss”: Jackson on Cheltenham’s last-gasp equaliser

Drawing on Easter Monday felt so sweet, but drawing on Saturday felt like a defeat as MK Dons drew 2-2 with Cheltenham at Stadium MK.

Mark Jackson admitted Alfie May’s 97th minute equaliser for the Robins to share the spoils left both he and his Dons squad feeling like they had lost the game rather than securing another point on their quest for League One safety.

Mo Eisa bagged a brace between Cheltenham strikes - the first from Elliot Bonds before May’s last-gasp equaliser. And there were two penalties in there for good measure too, with Eisa converting his on 58 minutes before Jamie Cumming made up for his mistake which led to Cheltenham’s opener by denying May with a brilliant stop from 12-yards.

For all the drama and excitement of the game though, and extending their unbeaten run to seven matches, Jackson said his dressing room felt hugely deflated in the aftermath.

“We were about 25 seconds away from victory,” he said. “It's disappointing, it always is when you're that close. And of course there is a feeling of deflation at the moment but it can't last.

“There were lots of positives. It didn't go our way, we conceded right at the end, but at Derby, we got a point.

“We're still unbeaten, we've got a good run, and we've got another home game on Tuesday (against Charlton Athletic, who were beaten 6-0 by Ipswich on Saturday) where we will try and bring that level of performance again. If we can't win, don't lose. It feels like a loss today, but we'll pick ourselves up. It's all we can do.

“We want to stay positive, win games, and the confidence is high in the group now. We can't let today's disappointment manifest itself into something bigger than it is. It's swings and roundabouts.

“I've said before it'll go right to the wire, there'll be ups and downs, and that's a bit of a dip for us today.”