Tisdale - I haven't been happy

Dropping points against Wycombe, Dons turned in two poor performances against Peterborough and Accrington culminating in their lowly place in the order. Promising cup showings though against Southend and Stevenage have shown the manager what he knows his side are capable of, while giving fans promise, but Tisdale cuts a frustrated character at the moment.

"I haven't been happy," he said on Thursday ahead of his side's game with AFC Wimbledon on Saturday. "There are so many variables, and you have to decide which ones you discuss with the team to make them play you envisage them playing. Sometimes it's trial and error. Ultimately, we need clarity from me and then how they execute. We just haven't quite got that right yet.

"We've gone up a league, I haven't had a settled side yet, but there is no great drama yet. Sometimes, you have to find your feet. There are 101 things to discuss after Accrington, and I got a response on Tuesday. But there are only so many things I could coach on that Monday. I asked for something, and we got a response. It's a building block. It's not the football I wanted, or the fluidity, but they gave me what I wanted on the night.

"We have to do one thing at a time. We're not miles away. Tuesday was a really important game for us. It got us going again, physically and mentally. That needs to step on to the next game."

With Dons' busy schedule - playing twice a week for four weeks - limiting them to precious few opportunities to train, Tisdale believes a week at Woughton next week will go a long way towards helping his side find their rhythm again.

He continued: "It really hits your training and coaching with so many games. That's not an excuse, because you can find a rhythm, but we lost ours. The games are coming thick and fast, but we've not had time on the training ground.

"There is a lot more to come yet, there are a lot more boxes we need to tick before I see the side I want to see. At the start of the week, I couldn't coach 10 different sessions. The players need to go into the game with an achievable aim and they did that on Tuesday."