Former MK Dons head coach Scott Lindsey spoke after his Crawley Town side’s 0-0 draw at Stadium MK on Tuesday

Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey felt the ‘whole country’ was against his side on his return to former club MK Dons on Tuesday night.

The drab 0-0 at Stadium MK saw both sides pick up a place in League Two, with Dons climbing to fourth and Crawey to 21st, though the gap between them and the drop zone closed to two points thanks to wins for Harrogate and Newport.

Lindsey, who was back at MK1 for the first time since he was sacked last March, acknowledged his side were heavy underdogs going into the game, claiming everyone was against Crawley.

“I think that it was a game set up for us to go and win – no one backed us,” he said. “The whole country was against us tonight.

“Everybody would have said MK would beat us tonight, which I kind of like. I use that as fuel. We use that in the meeting before the game – that no one backs us, so let’s go and upset everybody.

“And we tried our best to do that. Unfortunately, we come away with just one point – not all three. But at this stage, away from home against the team who were tipped certainly at the start of the season to be favourites, I’m pleased with that.”

Lindsey went on to admit his former club had the better opportunities to break the deadlock, with skipper Alex Gilbey and Scott Hogan both coming close to finding the back of the net.

He continued: “On reflection of chances, they probably won that battle. I think they had some real big chances. I was disappointed with some moments where we didn’t defend the box well.

“Thought [Alex] Gilbey should have scored a header at the far post where we’re not marking in the box – we’ve got to do that better. Scott Hogan goes through with a big chance – [Jacob] Chapman makes an unbelievable save.

“We’re in that relegation battle and it’s nervy to keep playing the way we want to play. But I can’t complain – that’s a massive point for us tonight, and the character shown was excellent.”