Too early to panic at Dons' start to the season

They may have picked up just a point from a possible nine so far this season, but Jordan Houghton says it would be naive to judge MK Dons yet.

Baily Cargill's 88th minute equaliser away at Doncaster on the opening day of the season is the only saving grace Dons have to write home about, though but for Brett Huxtable's penalty howler against Lincoln may have at least doubled Dons' tally.

Both Houghton and manager Russell Martin admit defeat to Crewe last Saturday was something of an outlier, a bad day at the office, but though the league table doesn't make for good reading - Dons sitting in 22nd - Houghton says it is too early to draw any conclusions.

"I think you’d be pretty naive to hit the panic button after three games," he said. "We’ve got a process here and all the players are behind it. We’re slowly putting things together and it’s been a tough turnaround since lockdown. It’s going to be a tricky season in terms of load, there will be obstacles, but over the duration of the season we will know it’s going to be a long one.

"I think it’s fair to say it’s been tough, it’s not what we wanted in terms of results and a couple of performances. There has been positives in games and we’ve got a lot to work on. We knew that coming into the season as it was a change of personnel and formation, there was always going to be that adaptive period.

"It’s natural to take it’s time to find the flow as a lot of teams are going to be in the same situation. It’s frustrating but there are positives to take from each game."

For the manager, it has been a frustrating start.

Martin said: "Against Coventry we were excellent, we miss a penalty and they score a set piece. Northampton, we were outstanding, we were dominant and went into the Doncaster with a good performance. They had two shots and scored one of them. It’s one we felt got away from us.

"Lincoln was similar: very dominant, referee gives a poor decision, we react well to going 1-0 down, dominate the game in terms of possession, shots on goal, touches in their box. It’s pleasing, but frustrating to get one point out of them. We should go on to win the Lincloln game.

"Crewe was an outlier, it’s disappointing, there aren’t many teams that can play poorly away from home and have some sort of control over the game. We didn’t defend the key actions well enough and had too much anxiety about our performance.

"We learn from every game, we analyse and then practice and perform. The players are all disappointed but it’s something to learn from, one point from three games is frustrating though.

"We’ve given away the fifth least shots on target and we have two defeats and a draw, that cant happen, but at the samr time if we continue our Doncaster, Lincoln, Northampton levels – I’m really positive we will have good days."