"The worst performance yet" for Warne as Dons limp to defeat again
The MK Dons head coach gave his reaction to the 2-1 defeat to Accrington Stanley
Paul Warne called MK Dons’ defeat to Accrington the worst he has seen in his time since taking over at Stadium MK.
The 2-1 reverse at MK1 is the fourth consecutive home defeat, and the third in four league games for the side hotly tipped to run away with the League Two crown this season.
As it stands, Dons slumped to 14th as they turned in another miserable showing at home. Falling behind to Isaac Sinclair’s 19th minute goal, Dons were given a false dawn when Alex Gilbey equalised two minutes into the second-half - a goal Warne thought should have been disallowed - before Charlie Caton poked home with 17 minutes to go to give Stanley their first away win of the season and their first ever win in Milton Keynes.
Coming after three prior defeats on home turf, and particularly bad showings against West Ham U21s and Grimsby Town, Warne said Saturday’s loss was the worst yet.
“It’s the worst performance I’ve witnessed from us as a group,” he said. “We have to change it, and quickly. We just didn’t really turn up.
“I can take unlucky results or defeats, but our performance was substandard today. We had a couple of players who did well but collectively we were miles off the standards we set ourselves and I didn’t see it coming. We didn’t have any dynamic part of our play today, which is odd because I think that’s one of our strengths.
“We didn’t create enough chances to win the match which is hugely disappointing, even more so at home.
“We tried to change a few things on the sidelines and at half-time, we got a little bit of a reaction but when it came down to it, we just didn’t we won as many duels, we looks a bit soft. It’s something we have to address but you have to match the intensity of the opposition and I don’t think we did.”
Gilbey’s third goal of the season came in somewhat fortuitous circumstances too, as it appeared like Callum Paterson had shoved an Accrington defender in the build-up. Warne felt that slice of luck would act as a catalyst for his side, but it proved not to be the case.
He added: “I definitely thought it was a foul, but I was happy to get back into it. I honestly thought it would lift a bit of pressure off our team and we could go on and win it. I don’t think Craig had a lot to do in the second-half, so to concede the second goal the way we did felt like one sucker-punch too much.
“We didn’t have enough attacking players on song, that’s what it felt like. Everyone had an off-day at the same time.”