Looking at the bigger picture after Dons’ 84-day run comes to an end

Liam Manning applauds his side from the dugout against Sheffield Wednesday. Although his side’s unbeaten run came to an end at 15 games on Saturday, he said he can already see the bigger picture

While they cut despondent figures leaving the pitch at Stadium MK on Saturday night after losing for the first time in 84 days, Dons head coach Liam Manning was already looking at the bigger picture.

There were plenty of bones to pick out of the 3-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. On the immediate surface, going 3-0 down inside half an hour after some uncharacteristic mistakes in defence was an obvious takeaway. While Dons’ attitude and desire saw them pull back to 3-2 deep into stoppage time at the end, injury to Mo Eisa, which saw him leave the pitch on a stretcher, also has connotations for the remaining three games of the season.

There was also the serious dent to their automatic promotion hopes, with Rotherham having earlier in the day climbed above them back into second spot, and the Millers and leaders Wigan both have a game in hand over Manning’s side.

Meaning perhaps a little less on the grand scheme of things though was Dons’ longest undefeated streak since 2015 and a similar push for automatic promotion to the Championship. Seven years ago, they were successful in their mission. Dons still have three matches this season to make that a reality.

Manning said: “It was always going to happen at some point. None of us like losing, but we have a duty to the players to take a step back and see the bigger picture. They've been unbelievable, seeing some of the teams we're competing against, the lads have been terrific.”

The bigger picture may pull into focus in the next few days too. Prior to the run, Dons were play-off hopefuls, vying for position in the top six, with the automatic spots looking out of reach even with the best part of three months remaining.

Still going through a heavy transition following the departures of key players in the transfer window, not many would have predicted Dons becoming realistic candidates for a top-two finish at this late stage in the season.

The disappointment though was evident, not least from defender Harry Darling, about the run coming to an end.

“We wanted to stay unbeaten for the rest of the season,” said Darling. “That was our goal. But all we can do is react and go again against Oxford.

“It’s a big lesson for us, but we’ve been on a good run, all runs comes to an end and tonight it sadly has. We’ve got three games left and we’ll give it a big push until the end now.”