Subs did not have the desired effect for MK Dons in draw with Posh
The MK Dons head coach admitted his changes did not work as planned
None of MK Dons’ substitutes had the desired impact for Paul Warne’s side in the 1-1 draw against Peterborough on Saturday.
While Posh boss Luke Williams praised the players who came off the bench for the Cambridgeshire side for helping them snatch a late point at Stadium MK, his counterpart said he shouldered responsibility for his not making their mark.
Beginning on the hour-mark, Marvin Ekpiteta replaced Gethin Jones, before Jay Matete and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy came on 14 minutes later for Aaron Collins and Dan Crowley.
Though Ekpiteta had his hands full with the dangerous Owura Edwards and later Harley Mills, neither Matete nor Hepburn-Murphy gave Dons any control in the centre of the park as Peterborough’s late pressure eventually told.
Speaking afterwards, Warne said he has to shoulder the responsibility for the changes not making their mark.
“We brought on Jay, Rush and Marv to give us fresh legs but they didn’t give us the impact we needed,” said Warne. “The criticism lays at my door. We made changes the other day and it had a positive effect, we made them today and it didn’t.
“If we ended up with a 1-0 win, it wouldn’t have been an issue but when you don’t, everything is under scrutiny and rightly so.
“It’s my decision, my coaching, my ethos, my culture, I get all that and I can handle it. We just need to address some little things that will help us win games going forwards.”
It was a new-look bench for Dons, with Eli Campbell and Ibby Fullah both named in a matchday squad for the first time since their deadline day moves, while Rushian Hepburn-Murphy was also included for the first time after injury.
Warne explained: “We lost Ben Wiles and Sam Silvera on Friday, so our bench was completely different. Eli and Fullah aren’t up to speed yet, Rush has only trained this week, Marv is tight in his hamstrings so we’ve been down on numbers and that was a blow.”