A furious Karl Robinson had stern words for his players after they were beaten 2-1 away at Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday evening.
Loanee Patrick Bamford had put the Dons ahead with his first professional goal just after the half-hour mark but a brace from Mathias Pogba condemned the men from MK1 to their second defeat in a week - a result which keeps them nine points adrift of the play-off places.
And Robinson was particularly disappointed with his squad’s performance in the final 30 minutes and the 32-year-old refused to hold back when speaking to the media after the game.
The Dons boss said: “I thought for the first hour there was only one team in the game. We went one-nil up thanks to a wonderful goal and we were retaining the ball really well. I thought we dominated proceedings but in the last half an hour or so we were appalling - as bad as I’ve seen for a long, long time.
“We were struck back by a refereeing decision just before half-time but the last 30 minutes was nothing short of embarrassing. I apologise to the fans that made the trip today and I have to hold my hands up and take responsibility for us being very poor.
“As a manager I’ve never come out and minced my words or denied anything, right or wrong, but that was a shambles and I’ve just told the players that in there. Some of them might not be playing for this Football Club next year. I’ll still be here but if some of them keep performing like that then they won’t be - it’s not good enough and it’s not acceptable.”
Soon after conceding what proved to the be the winner, the Dons’ night was made worse when defender Antony Kay was shown a red card after picking up his second bookable offence and Robinson chose not to defend the former Huddersfield and Barnsley centre-half when commenting on the incident.
“Antony Kay has embarrassed himself with the sending off. I’ve stuck up for him in the past and I’ve backed him after decisions have gone against him but he picked up two blatant yellow cards.
“He knows how difficult it is for me at the moment and he knows how short I am on numbers and he’s let me down, his team-mates down, the fans down and the badge down.”
The Dons will now have to pick themselves up ahead of their tough trip to Colchester United on the weekend and Robinson hinted that he could start making changes to his side if his current crop don’t start performing to the standards that have been set for them.
“We’ve got to win six games out of eight now. We’ve still got a target there to achieve but if we do continue losing football games then I’ll start making changes very quickly.
“I went to watch Dele (Alli) training with England today, I’ve got Giorgio (Rasulo) whose with the England squad this week, I’ve got Hugo (Logan) whose training with me this week and I’ve got Brendan (Galloway )who was magnificent for the youth-team this weekend. We’ve got some talented young players at this Football Club and it may mean more to some of them.”