Players have to 'look at themselves in the mirror' as Dons' dismal run goes on

The captain, who only came back into the side last Saturday against Rotherham after injury, says there is still great unity among the players and staff, despite slipping to 20th in League 1 after losing 1-0 to Plymouth on Boxing Day.

Having experienced bad runs before, Gilbey says the players can do nothing but look at themselves in the mirror and get out of the rut they find themselves in.

"It's not great," he admitted. "We're all disappointed. We need to do better, everyone knows that. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror. We're in a rut and we need to get out of it. I've been in them before, and you don't know where to buy a win from.

"It doesn't matter how hard you work on the training pitch or on the football pitch, it won't fall. We need to get a win and put and end to the rut.

"It's such a good squad - that's the reason I came here. A few things have been said, but I look around the dressing room and I know there are a lot of people in there who will back me and that's all that matters.

"That's down to the players, and we need to realise that. We have to do it for 90 minutes, not 20 minutes here or there."

Boos rang out at the full time whistle against Plymouth as the unrest begins to spread around Stadium MK, and Gilbey said the fans were well within their rights to voice their opinions, and agreed the players needed booing.

He said: "It's understandable and to be honest I don't blame them - we need to start performing, in fact we need to start winning.

"We played well against Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe and it wasn't our day. But I agree with the fans. For 90 minutes they were behind us, but they've spent their money, they can voice their opinions.

"We're lucky in football - games come thick and fast. It's not like boxing where you have to wait six months before you can put things right. We need to focus as a group of players, hope the fans continue to back us and get that win."