The MK Dons head coach gave his thoughts after his side’s 0-0 draw with Leicester City

Picking up a third draw in a row at home to Leicester City on Saturday, Dons boss Paul Warne praised his side’s defensive performance as they kept their first clean sheet of the season.

In a typically Russell Martin performance from the visitors, the Foxes had 75 per cent of the possession - a sight familiar to MK Dons supporters, who saw the head coach lead their side for 18 months from 2019-21.

While Craig MacGillivray made a couple of good saves, and Jayden Joseph clipped the top of the bar late on, Leicester’s pressure was met with a solid defensive performance from Warne’s side.

Struggling to make anything of their own stick though, Warne said: “We did everything we could to stop them but didn’t do enough to score the other end.

“Leicester are a really good team, they pull you apart, they ask questions. None of their shots were too much to concern ourselves with, mostly outside of the box, but I just wish we had a bit more personality on the ball when we got it back.

“In games like these you might nick one on the counter, which we nearly did on a couple of occasions, or from set-pieces. Today I think our set-pieces let us down.

“The effort levels cannot be questioned. Will we be better in some games? Yes, will we be better on set-pieces, I hope so. We played against a good team, we were good in patches but we’re still a work in progress. Hopefully we’ll keep developing.”

Still seeking their first win of the season, having been picked up points against Oxford United and Huddersfield Town before Saturday’s tie with Leicester, Warne said each game has produced very different problems to solve from his side’s perspective and while he admitted the late Oxford equaliser still stings, the return to League One has been satisfactory so far.

“They has been three very different draws,” he said. “We should have won at Oxford, Huddersfield was a game of two halves and today was a ‘bend, don’t break’ performance.

“Leicester will have an amazing season and I expect us to as well. When you’re not the better team, don’t lose. The lads put their bodies on the line, but I’m disappointed we didn’t ask more of them.

“We’ve come up from League Two, we’ve played two teams who have come down from the Championship and a real contender at this level. We’ve matched at times, but I’m greedy and I want to be the best in the league and smoke teams.

“I think if we’d have held on at Oxford, we’d have five points and I’d be happy with that. Having three from three isn’t ideal but we haven’t lost.”