Paul Warne delighted with MK Dons' result and performance after Shrewsbury success

MK Dons boss Paul Warne said he was delighted with both the result and performance as they beat Shrewsbury Town 5-1 at Stadium MK.

Callum Paterson’s first half hat-trick set the home side on their way to a big success at Stadium MK, with second half strikes by Luke Offord and Dan Crowley adding to the Dons’ scoreline in the second half.

Reflecting after the contest, Warne said he was very pleased with what he saw.

He said, “I’m really pleased with the lads. Every game asks different questions of you and poses different threats, but I thought the lads dealt with their threat really well. The back line were pretty flawless and I liked the feel of our midfield today. I thought Ben Wiles was the outstanding player on the pitch.

“It was backed up by the threat in-behind by the wing-backs and strikers, and I think the third goal, we try to work it in training but it doesn’t mean it’ll come off on the matchday. But that was as picture perfect a goal we can score.

“I’m pleased for Pato (Paterson) and generally pleased for the lads. It gives them a right boost, not that they need a boost as they’re in a good place. The squad looked strong today and we could make subs. Apart from conceding, we don’t really have a lot to complain about.”

Warne also voiced delight for his hat-trick scorer Paterson, with the former Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday man grabbing his first career treble.

He said, “His workrate his phenomenal. I agree that I still think there’s a lot more in him and we should get a lot more out of him, but in fairness, there’s a lot of times where he’s in great positions but we don’t pick the final ball.

“There’s loads of incidents where as a group we can better, but I’m really pleased for Pato. I banged the drum for getting him in. I’m not taking credit for that, but I just mean it’s good you see players come in, settle quite well, the lads have taken to him, he’s quirky, which I like, and he’s a really good forefront of our team.

“He’s a great lad and his work ethic this season has deserved more goals.”

Victory lifted the Dons into the automatic promotion places, albeit just on goal difference in a very compressed top-end of the League Two table, and Warne said that while he lamented some dropped points, he felt the team was making progress.

He said, “I can’t look at the league and not keep thinking about the points dropped at home to Chesterfield. It just drives us all insane. But then every team can say that and they would all have ten more points if they went over the disasters they’ve had. I think the results have been reasonably kind today, which is good, and all you can do is look after your own business. We’ve obviously got another home game on Tuesday night that we need to prepare for.”

Reflecting on recent form, Warne added, “I looked at the last 6 games and I think it’s won 3, drawn 2, lost 1. The one we lost was at Colchester in the last minute, which is inexcusable as we shouldn’t have lost that, and we drew one of them against Chesterfield when we shouldn’t have drawn that.

“I feel like our form, considering our performances and point tally, should be higher. However, I’m usually pessimistic rather than optimistic and if I’m fair to the lads, we’re in a good place. We just need to keep healthy and happy. Nobody’s going to win the next 20 games, I know that, but we’ve got to put ourselves in the position to get maximum points.”