“We can only take them so far”: Manning lays blame at door of MK Dons players after defeat to Fleetwood

An angry Liam Manning has laid the blame at the door of his MK Dons players after they let three points slip out of their hands on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Fleetwood Town.

Despite having more of the ball, more and better chances than the visitors, Dons’ woes continued as they conceded twice in the last 18 minutes to drop to 23rd in League One, six points from safety.

The story though is a similar one, with the performance not living up to the result, and one Manning appeared to be tired of repeating.

“It was a similar story to last week in terms of the performance,” he said. “We created enough chances, we conceded two shots on target which led to two goals. We're getting to a point where we have to stop talking about performances and be able to sustain the discipline and maintain the focus to not give up those moments. It's hurting and costing us.

“We had so many good moments to put the game to bed, but that's when you need someone to step up, people to be brave and have quality at the end. It comes down to quality in both penalty boxes. That's not new.

“We lacked quality ultimately in attack and at key times in our own area. It's hugely disappointing and frustrating.

“They have to fight, step up, scrap, be counted. If you want to turn performances into results, you have to step up and be brave, show character and fight. We're waiting for someone to do that. And that's what's so frustrating for the staff - we give them everything required to deliver, and you see that in the game today.

“We've got terrific coaches who have helped this team improve, but we can only take the players so far before it falls on them to go out there and win games for the team.

“We wanted someone to step up and get three points, and they didn't.”