Paul Warne calls for MK Dons to rebound from Barnet setback

Paul Warne said he was looking for MK Dons to move on from the end of their unbeaten run as they lost to Barnet.

Jon Mellish’s early goal had put the Dons in front, only for Barnet to turn things around to take a 3-1 win at Stadium MK through goals by Danny Collinge, Kabongo Tshimanga and Idris Kanu.

The defeat was the Dons’ first loss in a league outing since New Year’s Day and their first at home since September, but Warne said that with the high pressure run-in now looming, he wanted his side to process the lessons from the defeat and move on to their future assignments.

He said, “I just said to the lads don’t go away hugely disappointed – these are why we conceded, I showed them back, we’ll meet up next week and build for Salford away.

“This doesn’t feel like the worst defeat. I still see a real fight in the group. I saw how disappointed they are after. If we’d gone to the end of the season unbeaten, that would’ve been pretty good.

“I looked at the league table the other day from this time last year and what happened, and I think only Doncaster of the top 3 managed to win any games. The other 2 struggled over the line. At this time of season, the pressure mounts and things don’t go your way. I don’t want the lads to start thinking negative thoughts going on. We just weren’t good enough today to win and in the last 3 months, I’ve said that possibly once.”

Reflecting on the game as a whole, Warne said he felt his side were ultimately let down by duels and finishing.

He said, “It never felt like we had enough of the game to get anything out of it. I don’t think we were a 3-1 defeat, I don’t think we really poor but we let ourselves down on the duels. Actual goalmouth action, I thought it was a pretty even game.”

One big moment also came when Rushian Hepburn-Murphy saw a penalty saved a few moments after the goal that made it 3-1, and Warne said he felt that was also a key moment in the contest.

He said, “We had an opportunity in a 5-10 minute spell where we were really good and looked more like us. We got the penalty but unfortunately didn’t take it and I do feel like that’s an emotional swing. I know the scoreline hasn’t changed and there’s still half an hour on the clock, but you feel like if it goes in, here you go – the place gets loud. It sort of drained the lads a little bit.”

He went on to say, “I always fancy my teams in those situations and quite like the chaos where we’re chasing the game.

“It’s a massive swing. The other week, we came off buzzing we scored a last minute penalty and got a point but today, we were on the other side of it so it’s unfortunate. But realistically, did we possibly do enough to win the game today? Maybe not. Maybe a draw would’ve been a fairer outcome. I don’t think it was 3-1 but our finishing wasn’t as clinical as theirs and that’s what it’s come down to.”