Paul Warne says point for MK Dons fair in clash with Cambridge featuring two tiring teams

Paul Warne said he felt a point was fair for MK Dons after a 1-1 draw with Cambridge United in which he felt the two sides looked tired.

The Dons boss reflected on a 1-1 draw at Stadium MK in which Callum Paterson had put the hosts in front before Sullay Kaikai’s equaliser.

Reflecting afterwards, Warne said he felt it was a tight game between two sides who have played a lot of football in quick succession.

“It just looked, and this is my eyes – I don’t dispute that people have different views, but it just looked like two sets of tired bodies at the end of the game. It was a pretty close match, and one we would’ve liked to have gone on to win.”

He later went on to say, “Today, it was probably two good teams cancelling each other out while breathing very heavily in the last ten minutes. That’s sort of my very basic reflection of the game.”

Warne said that he felt they were going to be tested against a Cambridge side in decent form, and that he ultimately felt that Neil Harris’ side gave him a good test.

He said, “In fairness to Cambridge, they kept coming at us. They’re obviously in confident form like us. I felt reasonably comfortable first half, took the lead, good goal, had a couple of other chances but it just didn’t feel like we had as much control in this game as we’ve had in other games. That’s a testament to how Cambridge played and made it difficult for us.

“We took a couple of injuries in the first half, which is never ideal as it reduces what you can do in the second half. That was a problem. We changed the shape thinking it would give us more ascendancy at the top of the pitch, and we’d be able to pass our way out of it, but we didn’t. That’s the truth.

“The pressure mounted, we made some unforced errors on the ball to a certain extent and their only shot on the goal in the second half went in. It was a screamer, but it was avoidable. Then we had chances in the second half to get that goal that we didn’t take.”

With defensive injuries, Warne pivoted from his more recently used tactic with a back 3 to a back 4 after the break, but Warne said he felt the approach didn’t quite work as hoped for.

He said, “Whatever system we played, you just don’t know. After the event, you think if we could’ve stayed the way we were, but the way we were, I didn’t think we ended the half too comfortable and there were a couple of incidents where there were 3 centre halves against one. It felt like we were wasting a player and we weren’t retaining the ball in the final third. So I thought by being more aggressive on how we play, we would pick out passes.

“We started the second half really well and created the best chance of the game, and you could argue we limited them to one shot, so you can’t say it’s the shape’s fault. But I have to take responsibility. It’s the way I pick and changed the team. It’s our job as coaches that when we come under the cosh, we can show a bit more courage.”