Volatile and unpredictable League Two still has Dons boss scratching his head

MK Dons boss Paul Warne is still coming to terms with the realities of League Two football.

Experiencing the division from a managerial perspective for the first time in taking over at MK1 back in April, Warne admitted he has found the random nature of the fourth tier the most perplexing thing.

While in divisions higher up the pyramid, the game itself is more predictable and, to an extent, cultured, Warne said the sheer volume of chances teams are able to create in League Two makes for a division which will commonly see teams from the bottom beat those at the top.

“I don’t think there’s anything between any of the teams at this level,” he said. “It’s completely different (to the leagues above). In other leagues, there is kind of a pecking order, there is a sort of style, there are formations and rotations teams will do but League Two is a lot more random.

“A lot of chances go amiss, I watched a Bristol Rovers game in the build-up which could have finished 8-8. This league creates a lot of scoring opportunities, and a team at the bottom can beat a team at the top. There doesn’t seem a great deal of difference between the top and the bottom.”

Most bookmakers had Dons as the stand-out favourites heading into the League Two campaign to run away with the crown this season, but it has not been the case. Despite picking up just a point from 12 in a poor run through September, Warne’s side remain in the hunt at the sharp end, but it has been a harder road than he initially anticipated.

He said: “Coming into the season, I feel we would going into games as the favourites as arrogant as that sounds but it doesn’t feel like that.

“Every team is good at set-pieces, a lot of teams have a long throw, not a lot of teams try and play out now, a lot of teams play forwards with a physical, quick frontline, and it creates so many chances. That’s the danger in all games, you have to be good in both boxes to win.”