One defeat must not undo Dons' recent good run

MK Dons cannot afford to let one bad result impact their recent good run, but nor can they let it be more than just a one-game dip, says Jordan Houghton.

The midfielder made his return during the 4-2 defeat to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night as a second-half substitute following a three-month spell out of the side following ankle surgery.

Any realistic hopes Dons had of securing anything at Montgomery Waters Meadow had evaporated by the 19th minute as Shrewsbury slammed home their second penalty and third goal of the game, ending their run of three consecutive victories.

Though the result saw them drop from 11th to 13th in League One, Houghton says Dons cannot afford to let one bad result impact on them too heavily, but said they have to bounce back on Saturday when Oxford United visit Stadium MK.

"The lads have been on a magnificent run, and it's about putting another run together rather than dwelling on this one," he said. "We need to make it one bad result rather than two or three. We will need to start well on Saturday because that will be tough, and then put another run of games together.

"When we've had a bad result recently, we've been able to bounce back so that's what we'll look to do.

"I think we gave ourselves a lot to do in the first 15 minutes. We came here and started slowly which is exactly what the manager told us not to do. The performance wasn't good enough. They came out the traps fast, and from then, we did what we usually do and controlled the game. We just gave ourselves too much to do.

"With a steadier start, we'd really push on at 60 minutes and it would be a different game. But we can't start games like that."