"We can still salvage the season": Tomlinson on MK Dons' promotion hopes

No-one is throwing in the towel on the season yet, according to Joe Tomlinson, despite MK Dons suffering their tenth game of the season on Saturday.

The 4-2 defeat to Walsall saw Dons drop to 12th in the standings now into the second-half of the season, picking up just four points from a possible 21 in the last month.

The Saddlers’ win was their ninth in a row, and they now sit a mighty 24 points clear of Scott Lindsey’s side, having only played one game more.

In the midst of a bad patch, Dons’ performance at the Poundland Bescot Stadium showed how far off the leaders they were, particularly in the second-half, as the head coach criticised his side’s lack of drive after the turnaround.

Speaking after the game, wing-back Tomlinson admitted the team is well off where they should be at this stage in the season, but that he and his team-mates still believe they can salvage something from the campaign.

“We've got a lot of work to do but we're working and trying, and we still believe we can still make something of this season,” he said. “We know what a great team we have, we know the standard of players in the dressing room so I don't think confidence is an issue. The run we're on is disappointing, but we know we'll get there. It's about belief, getting that winning feeling back again.

“We know we shouldn't be where we are, but we're a work in progress. We're getting there, and all we can do is knocking things off game-by-game and get back to winning ways.”

After taking the lead through Scott Hogan’s 14th minute goal, Walsall were gifted a way back into the game on 32 minutes when David Okagbue equalised from close range after Tom McGill dropped Taylor Allen’s corner at the defender’s feet.

Worse was to come though, as barely 30 seconds into the second-half, more poor Dons defending was exposed when Liam Gordon lashed home a second. From there, Tomlinson admitted Dons’ confidence took a hit as Harry Williams and Albert Adomah further compounded their misery, before Kane Thompson-Sommers’ consolation goal five minutes from time ended the scoring at 4-2.

Tomlinson said: “The second goal deflated us so much, and it shouldn't, it can't. But it did, and Walsall could get on top and we couldn't pull it back. We should have carried on what we were doing in the second-half, we would have had a chance but we were deflated after that goal.

“But we cannot come out in the second-half the way we did. We're all disappointed, but the second-half was nowhere near good enough.

“We know we were so poor (from set-pieces) today, and that it was a strength of theirs, they've done it all season. We've not defended well enough. A throw-in and a corner, that got them goals and they pushed on from there.

“It's frustrating but all we can do is keep going and change things on Tuesday.”