The MK Dons head coach spoke after his side’s defeat in their final pre-season game

Paul Warne admitted MK Dons still have a lot of work to do with a week to go before their season kicks off against Oldham Athletic.

The head coach cut a frustrated figure as he watched his side beaten 2-1 by Stevenage on Saturday at the Lamex Stadium, not pleased with his side’s performance in the first-half especially.

With seven days to go before the League Two curtain raiser, Warne admitted the defeat to Alex Revell’s side highlighted a lot of the weaknesses still in his squad.

“It showed more of our weaknesses today than our strengths,” he said. “We didn’t pick up any injuries, but it still highlights where we’re lacking. Hopefully we can address that.

“That looked more like a League Two game than the game midweek, which is why it was a good one to have. But we need to be better in a lot of our play away from home.

“We'll have games like that where teams will turn us and fight, and I don’t think we had enough of that in the first-half. We were better in the second-half, but you can’t waste 45 minutes of your season. We wasted it. We had moments in the first-half, but as a group we weren’t engaged enough on the physicality.

“It was all a bit sluggish. The pitch was dry, which is how they want it. We just didn’t move the ball quick enough, we got caught in the middle of the pitch.

“At half-time, we explained a few things - not tactical nuances, not more aggression but more positive thinking. We were better but we didn’t create as many problems as I’d have liked.

“On Monday, we can be pretty critical. There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and I think we looked a bit arrogant in the first-half.”