Sorting MK Dons' defensive issues high on Lindsey's To-Do list

Clean sheets are a rare commodity for MK Dons, and it is something Scott Lindsey is eager to sort out quickly.

Twice his side were undone by routine set pieces from Cheltenham Town at Stadium MK on Saturday, falling two goal behind in the opening 13 minutes.

But it has been a recurring trend for Dons. Whilst the side have not kept a side out since Lindsey took over, it is not a new problem facing the side. They have only kept two clean sheets all term, and since the turn of the year, they have only managed five in 46 games played.

“We want clean sheets,” Lindsey said after Saturday’s win over Cheltenham, doing it the hard way. “I've not had one since I’ve been here and I keep harping on about it.

“But we've not got one again, and I don't think we defended for their two goals very well. The first one, we were so slow getting to the ball after a free-kick to the edge of the box, and the second, we don't do our jobs in the first contact and then in the middle of the goal too.

“We have to focus more on set pieces because at the moment we're not doing our jobs properly. I'll be putting a lot of detail and work in moving forwards because I'm not happy with that.”

In shifting Dons’ approach to the game since taking over, Lindsey admitted he gave the players a bit too much freedom to play, and has to rein them in. Defender Laurence Maguire, who scored the 86th minute winner against Cheltenham, felt, defensively, they have been too open and need to stick to a more rigid game plan in the back line to get clean sheets on the board.

He said: “Since the gaffer has come in, he took the shackles off but we went too far, we were too open. I feel like we need to get into the mindset of keeping clean sheets as well.

“First and foremost, I'm a defender, and we haven't had enough this year. It's something we have to work on, and we want to get better.

“It's something we have to look at because we want to go to a massive game with Fleetwood and get six wins on the bounce.”