Karl Robinson has urged his team to put games to bed when they’re on top, despite their 2-0 victory over Crawley Town on Saturday.
The Dons more than dominated their Sussex opponents for the first 20 minutes of their clash this past weekend but only took a one-goal lead into half-time courtesy of Dele Alli’s fine finish.
The visitors then responded in the second half and they could have equalised when former Don Izale McLeod was fouled in the box by Kyle McFadzean, but the striker’s penalty was saved by David Martin.
Reduced to 10-men in the penalty incident, the Dons then spent the majority of the final 20 minutes inside their own half, until Benik Afobe grabbed a stoppage-time second which sealed the points.
Robinson, although pleased with the result, says in his future he wants his players to make the game safe when they are on top.
“I thought for the first 20 minutes we were sensational but Crawley really put us on the back foot in the second half,” Robinson told MK Dons Player. “We really should have put the game to bed because we were unplayable at the start.
“They missed a penalty as well as a number of chances, so it appeared lady luck was on our side. I thought they showed have had another penalty as well for Kaysey’s foul on Izale.
“Overall, I thought the players’ work ethic and togetherness was tremendous. They deserve a ton of credit because they stuck to their game plan and ground out a very hard-fought 2-0 win.”
Early in the second half, the Dons were provided a scare when midfielder Darren Potter was forced off due to injury but Robinson is confident his fellow Liverpudlian will be fit for the trip to Barnsley in just under two weeks time.
“He should be fit to play in the next game,” Robinson added. “He overstretched for a ball and he did try to run it off. He was honest to me and said he couldn’t help the team so we made the change. It was a shame because I thought he started the game on another world to everyone else.”
The visitors then responded in the second half and they could have equalised when former Don Izale McLeod was fouled in the box by Kyle McFadzean, but the striker’s penalty was saved by David Martin.
Reduced to 10-men in the penalty incident, the Dons then spent the majority of the final 20 minutes inside their own half, until Benik Afobe grabbed a stoppage-time second which sealed the points.
Robinson, although pleased with the result, says in his future he wants his players to make the game safe when they are on top.
“I thought for the first 20 minutes we were sensational but Crawley really put us on the back foot in the second half,” Robinson told MK Dons Player. “We really should have put the game to bed because we were unplayable at the start.
“They missed a penalty as well as a number of chances, so it appeared lady luck was on our side. I thought they showed have had another penalty as well for Kaysey’s foul on Izale.
“Overall, I thought the players’ work ethic and togetherness was tremendous. They deserve a ton of credit because they stuck to their game plan and ground out a very hard-fought 2-0 win.”
Early in the second half, the Dons were provided a scare when midfielder Darren Potter was forced off due to injury but Robinson is confident his fellow Liverpudlian will be fit for the trip to Barnsley in just under two weeks time.
“He should be fit to play in the next game,” Robinson added. “He overstretched for a ball and he did try to run it off. He was honest to me and said he couldn’t help the team so we made the change. It was a shame because I thought he started the game on another world to everyone else.”
