Karl Robinson conceded to the media that it is his ‘most difficult time’ at the Football Club following MK Dons’ third consecutive defeat on Saturday afternoon.
Despite taking the lead courtesy of a Shaun Williams penalty, three second half goals from Coventry City condemned the Dons to another frustrating home loss; a loss which sees them slip to 12th in the Sky Bet League 1 table.
The men from MK1 are now just five points above the relegation zone and nine adrift of the play-off places and manager Robinson admitted things are tough.
Speaking to MK Dons Player, the 33-year-old said: “We’re probably in as difficult a position as I’ve ever been in. I’m not going to come out here and say everything is rosy in the garden because this is probably the most difficult position I’ve ever been.
“When we concede a goal, we look very fragile and we tend to concede a second one very, very quickly. We’re not having the luck or the breaks; one of our shots take a deflection, it ends up in the top of the Cowshed and they have a shot deflected and it loops perfectly over Ian McLoughlin.
“It’s difficult for us all right now but we’ve got to make sure we keep doing the right things to get ourselves out of this.
“At the beginning of the season there was no expectation on us to get out of this League and we always knew we would be in for a difficult year. It’s a difficult time at the moment but I’m not shirking responsibility.
“In the three and a half years I’ve been here, I’ve never turned my back on anything and that won’t be the case this time either.”
Following his side’s lacklustre performance away at Colchester United in mid-week, Robinson stressed that he was looking for a response from his players and for the first 45 minutes he got exactly that; with the Dons dominating their League 1 counterparts.
And the Liverpudlian believes that if his players were to have built on that showing in the second half, the result would have been very different.
He added: “I don’t think anybody who has seen that today would say we were poor. It’s not good enough, of course, because we’ve not won the game but I can’t start pointing fingers at anybody because we dominated the first half; we should have probably been two or three clear at that stage.
“Second half they were kicking towards their fans, so there was going to be momentum. We understood that and tried to deny them opportunities and their first goal’s come from a wicked deflection and the others from two of the best free-kicks I’ve ever seen.
“I thought we had the best chance of the game in the second half and there were some good bits in that. We’re not happy because we’ve got beat but if we keep playing like we did at the top end of the pitch we’re going to start winning football matches.
“There are some key players still to come back into the back five, some really key players, and I’m sure they’ll breed some confidence back into the group over the coming weeks.”
Finally, Saturday’s game also saw Dale Jennings made his debut for the Football Club having signed on a month’s loan from Barnsley two days ago.
The tricky winger put in an exciting performance before being substituted and his new manager praised the 20-year-old for his showing. “I’ve known Dale since he was 11 years of age and he’s somebody who I’ve always kept an eye on.
“You don’t go and play for Bayern Munich if you’re an average player, so we’ve got a class, class left-sided midfield player and I think everybody inside here today saw that.
“He was knackered in the second half because he’s not played in four weeks. If we can get him fit then he’s somebody who can really get you on the edge of your seat.”
