Manning facing the toughest time of his MK Dons tenure so far

Liam Manning admitted this is currently the toughest time of his MK Dons tenure.

Booed from the field on Tuesday night after suffering a third consecutive defeat for the first time since he took over in August 2021, Dons dropped back into the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s trip to take on Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.

Not just the defeats though, but the nature of the performances have come under fire too, with barely a shot of note on Tuesday against Bolton Wanderers, and hardly a chance in either game against Exeter City or Cheltenham Town before that.

It feels a far cry from the side which finished third last season, and Manning admitted times are as tough as they have been since he took over from Russell Martin.

“I think so, from a results perspective of course - we won a lot of games last year,” he said. “The players don't go out to make mistakes or to deliberately get it wrong.

“It's a challenge, but it's one I'm excited by. And it's not far away, I'm confident of that.

“It will turn, and we'll start to get closer to the performances we want and the results will follow. We have to turn things around to get the outcomes we want.”

Dons’ summer of change has been well-noted by now, with 14 players added to the squad in one of the biggest turnovers the club has ever had.

Eight games into the League One season, Manning said it is clear Dons are still not where they want to be.

“We said it from day one, there will be ups and downs, steps forward and steps back, and it will take time.

“Everyone hopes it happens quickly. Speaking to Ian (Evatt, Bolton manager) after Tuesday - Bolton went through a similar transition last year. Speaking to Matty Taylor at Exeter - they went through it two years ago, but they were fortunate to go through it in empty stadiums. And Chelsea have gone through it this year.

“We’re going through a huge transition, which when you add in a lack of training time, it makes it really difficult to implement the principles.

“We don't have time though, we have to win games, we have to learn quickly and move forward quickly.”