There were bittersweet emotions from Karl Robinson after seeing his MK Dons side record an emphatic 3-0 win over Tranmere Rovers.
The Dons boss admitted he was ‘delighted’ with the three points but equally frustrated that his team have registered victories against the top teams but consistently struggled against the lower-end sides this season.
Goals from Dean Lewington, Stephen Gleeson and Darren Potter helped the Dons deliver a blow to Tranmere’s play-off bid, whilst adding a little momentum to their own distant hopes.
Speaking to the media after the game, Robinson said: “It’s frustrating really, we probably played better than that on Tuesday night and got nothing out of the game.
“We have played first, second and fifth in the last few games and we’ve taken seven points from them, when this team is challenged and it plays against good players and good teams we arguably perform to better levels.
"In the second half it looked like two tired teams and we probably have two of the smallest squads in the League and it looked like that in the second half.
“I thought we were comfortable and never really feared that the result would be anything other than a home win. I am delighted with the three points – it was a convincing victory for us.”
The Dons first and final goals came in slightly fortuitous circumstances with Lewington and Potter heading in rebounds from Dean Bowditch and Shaun Williams respectively, however, Robinson
explained there was more to it that the two players finding themselves in the right place at the right time.
“We decided to be a little bit more adventurous when we’re taking set pieces to try and get a few more bodies in the box and try to get a bit more luck. I thought Dean Bowditch’s strike which hit the bar should have gone in anyway and Shaun Williams’ free-kick should have gone in as well so they were two fantastic strikes, luckily they fell to our players.”
The only real blow of the game came when Dons skipper, and first goal scorer, Lewington was forced off the pitch with a knee injury, which the Club will assess over the next 48 hours.
The positives of the day though – three goal scorers, a clean sheet and three points – helped the Dons climb into 12th place in the table and move to within nine points of the play-offs with nine games remaining.
“We all believe, I said seven wins from ten and that’s now six from nine that I want. I want to wish Tranmere luck, Ronnie Moore has arguably been the manager of the year this season, this
Tranmere side have been top for large parts of the season and that is a won against a very good Tranmere side. We wish them luck, but we’ve gone up a few metres on that mountain and we’ve got a long way to go now.”
