Despite his side extending their unbeaten run to five games, Robbie Neilson was disappointed not to pick up maximum points at home.
Neilson’s MK Dons side played out a 1-1 draw with Southend United on Tuesday evening, with Kieran Agard’s third goal in two games cancelling out Stephen McLaughlin’s terrific opener at Stadium MK.
The result means the men from MK1 haven’t tasted defeat for almost four weeks but boss Neilson knows his team must start collecting maximum points on a more consistent basis, especially at home.
“We’re disappointed because it was a home game and we didn’t take three points,” he told the media his post-match press conference.
“We had some chances [to win the game] but Southend had some chances too. Both teams will probably say they could have won the game.
“I couldn’t fault the work-rate of the team, especially in the second half, but the quality we expect wasn’t there tonight.”
He added: “We want to win every game but just look at some of the results [on Tuesday]. Bury beat Shrewsbury and that sums League One up – it is a league where it is extremely hard to go on a good continuous run.
“We have managed to pick up some good points recently – five in three games. We would have liked more but hopefully we can go and pick up three at Doncaster [Rovers].”
Here is what else Neilson had to say in his post-match press conference...
A game of two halves...
“In the first half, we just weren’t at it. They pressed us and got after us. Our quality in the pass wasn’t great either. Second half, the performance was far better. We were the better team and we created chances. We did well to get back in the game and could have won it.”
Referee’s performance...
“I don’t really want to sit here and focus on [the referee] because you are just wasting your time – it is done and dusted now. To be honest, we weren’t good enough anyway. We didn’t perform well enough in the first half and we didn’t merit anything. In the second half there was a little bit more consistency from the referee which helped us.”
Pleased with players who came in to the side...
“The players who came in did a good job and worked hard. This is a group that will always work hard for each other. Yes, we’re missing a number of key players and the quality we expect wasn’t there tonight but I couldn’t fault the enthusiasm.”
Peter Pawlett’s impact...
“Peter gave us enthusiasm, he worked hard and he gave us some quality going forward. We didn’t start him because he is still coming back from a knee injury. He played 90 minutes on Saturday and was just a little bit too much for him.”
Can’t solely rely on Chuks Aneke...
“He always is [a handful] but we don’t want to rely on him too much. In the second half we were too direct into him. We have to try and play, and move the ball so we can get it into Chuks in better areas. We’re relying too much on going direct to him and playing off that which, at times, is a great thing to do but not all the time.”
The need to start games better...
“We’re finding that teams, at the start of games, are getting after us and they are straight in our face. We have to, at times, turn the other team, play in behind them and make it difficult for them to do that. It is something we need to try and improve at. We need to be more unpredictable in our play too,”
Three goals in two games for Kieran Agard...
“Thankfully, he has turned that corner. He works extremely hard and he gets into good areas. It just wasn’t clicking for him but thankfully, in the last couple of games, it has and hopefully he can continue that. He is one of our key players.”
