‘Limited changes’ Jackson can make to his defence for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday

Mark Jackson admitted there is little chopping and changing he can do to his MK Dons defence even if he he wanted to.

Injuries to Warren O’Hora, Dean Lewington and deadline day signing Anthony Stewart have left Dons at bare bones at the back, and after the 5-0 hiding they suffered at the hands of Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night - a performance riddled with basic defensive errors - the head coach has had little option but to stick with Zak Jules and Jack Tucker in the centre, flanked by Daniel Harvie and, most likely, Tennai Watson as a back four for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow (Saturday).

“There are limited changes from a defensive perspective we can make,” Jackson admitted. “We made a change against Bolton with Tennai coming out with a small hamstring problem but it was precaution, and he came on at half-time and fit back in well.

“We've got limited options at the back, but until the Bolton game, we've been relatively pleased with how we've performed defensively, in and out of possession.”

Dons conceded three of Bolton’s five goals on Tuesday night from corners, a scenario which left Jackson with his head in his hands as a former defender himself.

And though there has been little turnaround time between their game at the University of Bolton Stadium and the trip to Hillbsorough to face Wednesday, Jackson hopes to have put right some of the wrongs they showed from set-pieces.

He said: “There were clear parts of the game we needed to get better at, particularly set plays. We've looked at that since, but it is harder when you've not really got time on the training ground, and hopefully we've got it out of our system.

“Taking away the set-play goals, and we're feeling different after Tuesday night. We know we have to get better, we have to give more in those areas and moments, but we'll be ready for it.

“We dissected it, looked at where we can get better, and there was a group acceptance that we need to improve and bounce back on Saturday.”