Slump continues as Fleetwood consign Dons to a third straight defeat

Set-pieces once again proved to be MK Dons' undoing as Fleetwood Town eased to a 2-1 win at Highbury Stadium on Tuesday night.

Ryan Broom smashed through a crowd after 33 minutes when Dons failed to clear a free-kick before Shaun Rooney was left completely unmarked to head home Phoenix Patterson's corner midway through the second-half.

Tommi O'Reilly gave Dons a 81st minute life-line with a goal three minutes after coming on for his debut, but it was not enough to stop Dons slumping to a third defeat in a row, and a sixth in eight games, remaining 12th in the table.

After saying he would wield the axe after the defeat to league leaders Walsall on Saturday, Scott Lindsey made three changes to his side for the trip to Fleetwood, most notably recalling Craig MacGillivray to the side, more than a year since his last league start for the club. Tom McGill, Joe Tomlinson and Liam Kelly were all dropped to the bench, while Kane Thompson-Sommers and Joe White came back into the side.

With 12th taking on 14th, it was always set to be a scrappy and messy affair, and so it turned out. Dons rotated things on the left-flank, with White, Thompson-Sommers and Alex Gibey all popping up on that side, while Nemane remained a constant down the right. And it was his working relationship with Crowley which threatened to get in behind the Fleetwood defence on a couple of occasions early on.

The home side meanwhile twice came close to opening the scoring when Matty Virtue clipped a chance wide, before Ryan Broom then fired through a crowd to draw a great save from MacGillvray.

As the game degraded into a messy midfield scrap, it would be yet another set-piece which would be Dons' undoing as the hosts took the lead. Phoenix Patterson's free-kick aimed towards the far post, but while Dons cleared to the edge of the box, they were once again second to the dropping ball and Broom unleashed an unstoppable effort through the crowd to give Fleetwood a 33rd minute lead.

Scott Hogan nearly scored a carbon copy of his goal on Saturday barely two minutes later, latching onto Dan Crowley's excellent ball over the top, but defender Rhys Bennett took all the sting out of his strike as keeper Jay Lynch remained trouble-free for much of the opening half.

Dons looked a more controlled outfit in the second-half, but once again their set-piece woes were exposed midway through when Shaun Rooney was left completely unmarked to powerfully head home Patterson's corner to double Fleetwood's lead.

With Dons struggling to create anything meaningful in front of goal, Lindsey looked to Aston Villa loanee Tommi O'Reilly to change things and within three minutes of his arrival, he gave his new side a life-line with a cracking strike from the edge of the box.

But it was to be too little too late for Dons as they slumped to a third defeat in a row and their sixth in eight.

Referee: Thomas Parsons

Attendance: 1,320

Fleetwood Town: Lynch, Wiredu (Helm 71), Bolton, Bonds (Neal 78), Virtue, Broom, Bennett, Coughlan (Harratt 71), Potter, Rooney, Patterson (Mayor 85)

Subs not used: Hewitson, Hunt, Hughes

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Lawrence, Sherring, Nemane (O'Reilly 78), White (Leomonheigh-Evans 78), Thompson-Sommers (Tomlinson 66), Williams, Gilbey, Crowley, Hogan (Hendry 66)

Subs not used: McGill, Harrison, Kelly

Booked: Bonds, White, Coughlan, Wiredu, Rooney, Hendry