Micciche is 'still learning how to deal with frustration'

The Dons boss has had 15 games in charge of the League 1 club, but criticised the MK1 fanbase for publicising injury news prior to the game against Doncaster Rovers.

Hastily apologising on Sunday, Micciche said he is still learning how to keep his emotions under control when it comes to dealing with the frustrations of the game.

"A game like Saturday was frustrating for everyone because we did so many things right, so to come away with nothing was a bitter pill to swallow," he said. "That's the bit of management I'm learning - how to deal with that and how to cope with that.

"You've got to pick the time and place to deal with your frustrations - I dealt with it differently at Wigan than I did to last Saturday. But when the dust settles, you have to put a plan in place and move forwards."

Dons head to Roots Hall on Saturday to take on Southend knowing anything other than victory will leave them almost certainly staring at League 2 football next season. However, Micciche said he and his squad can only afford to take it one game at a time, only reflecting on what other teams do once their job on the pitch is done.

He said: "Speaking to different people, they throw around different points targets, but we've always had ours in mind. In the last 10 years, the average has been 49 points, the most has been 52. I think we could spend all our time guessing, but the priority is winning on Saturday, looking at the other results at 5pm and going from there.

"We have to approach the games like we did last month when we were seven points adrift and we managed to turn it around - it's no different now. We've been in this situation before, but we've made it more difficult for ourselves. I can't affect previous games now, we have to do it in a different way.

"Other teams will drop points, and two of our relegation rivals play each other on Saturday so they can't both win. There will be nerves, and it will be down to the team which can hold their nerve and the team that comes out fighting. I won't stand for anything else from our lads."