In the aftermath of Tuesday’s defeat to Oldham Athletic, Manager Dan Micciche stressed the need for MK Dons to start picking up points.
Micciche’s men were beaten 1-0 by the Latics on a difficult night in Greater Manchester – Anthony Gerrard’s first-half header proving the difference at SportsDirect.com Park.
The loss means the Dons are now six points adrift of safety in Sky Bet League One which prompted Micciche to tell the media: “We have to start picking up points immediately.
“We can't feel sorry for ourselves. There are still plenty of points to play for and mathematically we can still climb way up the league., We've seen other teams do it, but we just need that first win – once we do that, we can look to build momentum and get some confidence in the dressing room.
“We have to start picking up points and I'm confident we can do that.”
On the defeat, the Dons boss said: “I'm absolutely gutted, especially for the supporters.
“We knew it would be scrappy – the pitch is basically unplayable. It's the type of game that gets decided by a set piece and unfortunately they've scored it. I’m so disappointed with that because we've done so much work on set pieces.
“I think we had the better of the play in certain areas but we're lacking that quality in the final third. We have to improve quickly because we know the situation we're in.”
Here is what else Micciche had to say in his post-match press conference...
On an important clash with Charlton Athletic...
“It's a massive game – I'm under no illusions. We will do everything we can to win on Saturday. We have to find a way to win.
On the second-half performance...
“We have to be better. We had a plan at half time but we didn't help ourselves at times – a basic pass breaking down, or the final ball not coming in. We have to address this.
On losing Chuks Aneke...
“It sums up the position we're in at the moment, that we lost Chuks so early. It was a big boost for them because he was a huge part of our game plan. Kieran came on and gave us an option but Chuks had been raring to go the last few weeks. We think it's a hamstring but we'll check it.
On a difficult playing surface...
“That's not how I want us to play, but the pitch forced us into a certain style. It was unplayable at the end.”
