Players disappointed despite win over Crewe, Manning admits

Liam Manning said the MK Dons felt flat after their routine 2-1 win over Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night, and said he had to gee them up at the full-time whistle.

First half goals from Troy Parrott and Conor Coventry - his first for the club since signing on loan from West Ham in January - put the game beyond the bottom club before the interval as they slumped to their seventh defeat in a row and their 14th in 15 matches.

Though Dons barely broke a sweat in the second period, Crewe managed to snag a consolation goal deep into stoppage time through Bassala Sambou, and it was a bone of contention for the players who left the pitch disappointed with their performance, the head coach said afterwards.

“For the players, who have been on a really good run with some really good moments, the dressing room is pretty flat tonight,” Manning admitted.

“It's great from a coaching perspective, because they're so self-aware that it's actually my job to lift them tonight rather than knock them for being sloppy. They're disappointed with Crewe's goal, we don't want to give away cheap goals. But the main thing is coming away with the three points.

“It was a tough game - every week we face touhg opposition irrespective of where they are in the league. It was tough at times to get in behind, but we showed some good moments to get there.

“Overall we did what we needed to to get over the line at this stage of the season, that's the most important thing.”