The Dons boss was upset with his side’s performance again in the first-half against Luton Town

Stephen Healy once again called into question his side’s mentality after MK Dons Women crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Luton Town.

The thumping 5-1 defeat began in earnest with the Hatters taking the lead after just two minutes through Jánaye Beaufort. Leyah Maddix doubled Luton’s advantage ten minutes before the interval, before Emily Wilson made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time.

Healy admitted Dons’ first-half performance was the biggest let-down, with his side looking a better prospect in the second-half though faced with a mountain to climb to reach the first-round proper.

Luton added a fourth 12 minutes from time when Maddix bagged her brace, before Lisa Milliken headed in the fifth in stoppage time. Amelie Sarll got an even later consolation for Dons, but it was a disappointing exit for Healy.

“In the first-half, we weren’t good enough, collectively and individually,” he said. “Some players needed to be a bit honest with themselves, and we cannot keep finding ourselves in a position where we’re going in at half-time needing a reaction. The girls have to bring that from the start.

“We prepared well enough, started poorly and it was an uphill battle after that. Their response in the second-half was good, they got in Luton’s face and caused problems.

“We’ve got to look at ourselves, we’ve got to make sure we’re far more competitive. We’ve got a hard game against Norwich next week and if we approach that the same way, it will be another tough day.”

Goal-scorer Sarll added: “It was a tough one to take. We did well in training this week, and expected a better result than what we got. We all made mistakes, but we’ve got to come together and put it right as a team against Norwich.

“We needed to be braver and more confident in ourselves. If we can repeat what we did in training, results will come.”