Robbie Neilson wants his MK Dons side to be more ruthless as they bid to return to winning ways in Sky Bet League One.
Neilson’s Dons were beaten 1-0 by promotion-chasing Fleetwood Town on Saturday – their third-straight game without a goal.
“We weren’t ruthless enough,” Neilson said after last weekend’s clash at Stadium MK. “The possession stats will probably show that we had a lot of the play but at the end of the day, we’re leaving here with no points because we were just too soft and too nice.
“We weren’t ruthless enough,” Neilson said after last weekend’s clash at Stadium MK. “The possession stats will probably show that we had a lot of the play but at the end of the day, we’re leaving here with no points because we were just too soft and too nice.
He added: “We have to be more aggressive and want to win games more. It’s alright playing nice football but at the end of the day it’s all about winning football matches and we need to get back to that.”
“We need to do things to put people under pressure and don’t just pass it for the sake of passing it.”
“If we have the opportunity to put a cross in, put a cross in. If there’s a shot to be had, take the shot. If you need to turn someone, turn them. I feel we reverted back to nice football with no real end product.
“They sat in and made it difficult but we got into areas where we could put crosses in or have a shot at goal – we need to be more ruthless in our play.
“I thought we totally dominated the first half but there’s no point dominating the game if you’re going to get beat. When we get ourselves into good areas, we need to take our chances. We have to create more chances too.
“We need to make sure we improve on that for these games coming up because they are tough ones.”
“It comes down to being more ruthless. Attacking-wise, we weren’t aggressive enough and when defending set-pieces we weren’t aggressive enough either.
“It was a really poor goal to concede. When you play against Fleetwood you need to stop them counter-attacking, which we did well, and also deal with balls in from set plays, which we didn’t do.
That said, Neilson was disappointed with the manner in which they conceded to the Cod Army last weekend – a header from a set-piece.
While the Dons will be disappointed by their lack of production at the top end of the pitch in recent weeks, they should be relatively pleased with their performances at the back – the men from MK1 have limited their opponents to one goal or less in all-but one of their league matches since the turn of the year.
