Paul Warne pleased to see MK Dons keep Bromley from equalising

Paul Warne praised his MK Dons side for their resilience as his side held Bromley out to take victory at Stadium MK.

First half goals by Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Ben Wiles did the job for the Dons as they saw off the Ravens in a clash between the league’s top two.

An away win would’ve seen Bromley confirm promotion to the third tier, but despite a red card for Jon Mellish and a goal back from Marcus Ifill, Bromley were unable to complete the turnaround.

Reflecting afterwards, Warne felt his side showed two high quality halves, with a high quality half going forward to build the lead and more qualities in the second to remain ahead.

He said, “The last 15-20 minutes were tight, hard work. I thought first half, we were really good in possession and created so many chances. We could’ve been 4 up and I don’t think’s over-flattering us. We were really good first half, the best of us, and second half, they made changes, changed their shape and put it on us.

“I thought we rode the storm pretty well for 20 minutes and we didn’t have much to worry about apart from the inevitable set-pieces, but we defended them really well. Then the sending off is obviously a massive turning point, then they score a few minutes after and I’m like everyone else – you start to fear the worst and see all your good work slowly slipping through your fingers. We’d made our changes and couldn’t see anything else.

“Generally, really pleased with the performance and the win and it sets us up nicely for the last three.”

Despite taking a 2-0 lead, the red card and goal saw Bromley claw their way back into it, with another factor seeing the visitors react positively to a quadruple half-time change. But Warne said he was happy at the way the team managed the threat.

He said, “They changed their shape at half-time, went to a 3 with a wide centre-half who kept hitting diagonals to us. Their front line is very aggressive, in a good way – I love to see it, if not against me. So they were competing and had the energy in the legs to pick up seconds. That’s where we struggled. It felt like we couldn’t get any clearances or if we did, they mopped it up and came again.

“They caused a lot of problems but we did defend the box well, Craig (MacGillivray, goalkeeper) came for a couple of crosses to take the pressure off us. On another day, we could’ve conceded 4 and scored 6. So I’m just pleased the lads did enough to get us over the line.”

The result helped the Dons solidify their position in League 2’s tight promotion chase, and Warne said that he felt it was great security as part of the team’s push to get their promotion to League 1 arranged.

He said, “All it is is that it’s another game done and we haven’t dropped out of the top 3. There’s 5 teams going for 3 spots and it’s just rolled it on. Bromley’s next game is on Thursday against Cambridge so that’s another game where they both can’t win and more of them the better.”

Reflecting further, Warne said that he did not feel like it was job done but that he backed the Dons to get the job done.

He said, “I do feel like we are closer. I’ve said all the time that we’re going for the title so I’m not trying to hide my enthusiasm over a win, but if the other games had gone and results are gone and we’re only 4/5 points clear with 3 left, you’ve got to back yourself. I always back my team, but it always feels like there’s another twist or turn to come.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s done at the moment.”