“It was strange in the dressing room”: Devoy on Dons’ FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth

The mood in the MK Dons dressing room was a weird one after the 3-2 defeat to Portsmouth in the FA Cup, Dawson Devoy admitted afterwards.

Despite going out of their first cup competition this season, Dons rallied excellently at Fratton Park with a fine second-half showing to almost force a replay having fallen 3-1 down not long after the restart.

Getting a goal back through Mo Eisa, Dons forced the issue but ultimately came up short as Pompey progressed. While the performance probably deserved more, Devoy said the dressing room was a strange place after the full-time whistle.

He said: “It was strange in the dressing room because we played really well and pinned them in for three quarters of the game. It was a much better performance.

“It's disappointing to be knocked out of the Cup but we have to take this performance into the league now and get three points next week.

“Portsmouth started on top as you'd expect but we quieted the fans down when we went 1-0 up. The goals we conceded were sloppy, but if we can fix up on that, scoring two goals on the road you can win games. It's a good performance but we're disappointed to be knocked out.”

Devoy helped Dons on their way with an excellent pass through to compatriot Darragh Burns to net Dons opener after 20 minutes, but they were pegged back just two minutes later thanks to Reeco Hackett’s excellent strike to equalise. Two Colby Bishop penalties though would prove the difference, before Eisa’s strike in the second half.

With focus now back on League One next week, Devoy said if they continue to produce performances like they did on the south coast, points will start to come more frequently.

“I think if we put in a performance like that more times than not we'll get the result,” he continued. “We have to start getting points in the league now. More performances like that and we will.

“We know we've got quality, you can see it, and putting performances like that together we'll get better results.”