"It's a small bump, that's all": Dons skipper Gilbey on losing to Barnet

Losing for the first time in 14 games could be a blessing in disguise for MK Dons, according to Alex Gilbey.

Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Barnet at Stadium MK was the first time the side has lost in the league since New Year’s Day, and the first loss at MK1 since September.

“It’s a small bump, that’s all it is,” said the captain afterwards, who feels heading into the final eight games, a reset is exactly what he and his team-mates need.

“The run is over but we’re still in a good place and we have to bounce back,” he continued. “We weren’t going to go unbeaten until the end of the season, I don’t think that’s football. It’s a shame though. Sometimes, these things are a blessing.

“It is never going to be a straight line to success. Sometimes this can give us the chance to look at a few things, perhaps things that had been papered over because we were winning. We can reset, have a week of training and get ready for Salford.

“We’ve been very, very good this season, and sometimes slip-ups happen. It’s not a nice feeling because we’re in a groove of winning and feeling invincible, but we’ll bounce back. We’ve got no excuses, it would be easy to blame the schedule but the better team won today.”

“A really strange game”

After taking the lead through Jon Mellish’s somewhat fortunate third goal of the season, Dons were hit at crucial times by Barnet as they claimed all three points at Stadium MK.

Goals from Danny Collinge, Kabongo Tshimanga and Idris Kanu secured the points for the Bees, while Rushian Hepburn-Murphy missed a penalty which could have sparked a revival from the hosts with half-an-hour to go.

“It was a really strange game,” Gilbey continued. “I don’t think we were at the levels we’ve shown in the last couple of months. It just caught up with us. Barnet were at it. We knew what was coming, but we didn’t stand up to it. They’re a good side, it was a real battle. They battled harder than us, we didn’t get anything from the game.

“All four goals were down to mistakes, and sometimes it’s like that. They were goals we don’t really concede either, which is frustrating. They scored at crucial times, just as we have against other teams this season, so we know how it feels and how hard it is to come back from. Their third goal came at a really good time too, and we huffed and puffed but it wasn’t our time.

“We had really good chances, especially in the second-half but we didn’t take them.”