Paul Warne spoke after the 1-1 draw between MK Dons and Notts County on Monday night

MK Dons boss Paul Warne made three critical substitutions at half-time after what he felt was a massively disappointing opening half against Notts County on Monday night.

Nothing separated the sides at Stadium MK until Tom Iorpenda’s 44th minute goal send the visitors in ahead at the break, putting them on course for a second win over Dons in 20 days.

Looking sloppy and second-best for the opening 45 minutes, Warne introduced Gethin Jones, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy at the break, withdrawing Aaron Nemane, Kane Thompson-Sommers and Aaron Collins and the hosts straight away looked more impactful.

It was not until the 70th minute that they got their reward though, with Callum Paterson slamming home his seventh of the season, for a share of the spoils.

“A point when you’re not playing well, you have to take that and move on,” said Warne. “When we came in at half-time, we didn’t really see anything in the game.

“It’s my fault, I should have picked a few more fresh legs. I think we looked a bit jaded, with some tired bodies and tired minds. We didn’t look as zippy as usual, and County looked a bit sharper than us but without any real threat. And apart from someone bending in a 20-yarder into the bottom corner, there wasn’t much in the game.

“I could have taken any one of them off, I didn’t think anyone was on song. I asked for a response at half-time and we got a bit more aggressive. Rush had a bit of joy, we have a bit more impetus. To get the goal was a bonus, and I thought at the time we’d go on and win it.

“Credit to Notts County, they made it really difficult for us. We didn’t have enough personality on the ball tonight, but I thought we dug in in the second-half. We were a bit more aggressive, won more duels and looked a bit more like us. It’s just a pity the end fizzed out.”

He continued: “We were about to flip to a different system before the goal and for 15 minutes, I think they wobbled. We just didn’t create enough at the top end to win it. One free-kick, one corner, one well-worked throw in could have won us the game.

“Over the course of the two games, Notts County could have won them both, we could have won them both and two draws might have been the fair result. I don’t think we’ve been robbed, I don’t think either team did enough to win it.”