New time-wasting prevention rules have been brought in this season

Paul Warne has admitted he has previously told his goalkeepers to go down in order to instigate a ‘time-out’ to prompt a team-talk midway through games - something which is being cracked down on this season.

New rules, which will be trialed this season, will see managers have to nominate a player to leave the pitch should the keeper go down and need treatment. The EFL believe non-contact injuries for goalkeepers “disrupt momentum, slow the game down or create opportunities for tactical instruction.”

No stranger to the dark arts, MK Dons boss Warne admitted he has told keepers to feign injury in a bit to stop play even though the concept ‘drives him insane’.

“I’ve definitely done it,” he told TalkSport. “There are times in games when after 15, 20 minutes you’re getting absolutely smoked and you’re thinking about changing something but you can’t get those messages on. I have definitely told my keeper to go down, I openly admit that. Everyone does it.

“I’d like to think I’ve got a good moral compass, however, it was something they couldn’t punish. It used to drive me insane when a keeper went down more than once though.

“The new rule is good isn’t it, because I wouldn’t want to lose a player.”

Warne believes football could learn a lot from sports like American football and basketball, where the clocks are stopped when the ball is out of play, offering up more clarity to player and fans as to how much time is left, effectively ending time-wasting tactics.

He continued: “I’ve said for years that it should be like basketball, if the ball goes out, the clock stops. I would buzz off that. I’ve been harping on about that in meetings for years because then there is no grey area. Fans know exactly how much time is left. I can’t believe it hasn’t been trialed more.

“I do get frustrated as a manager and a fan when there are disgusting time-wasting techniques. When people take forever doing something, like when the ball goes out, they boot one ball away and take an age to walk to get another.

“It’s entertainment, people pay to watch entertainment so we’ve got to do better.”