Paul Warne disappointed as MK Dons fail to take first win of season against Peterborough

MK Dons Head Coach Paul Warne admitted disappointed after his side conceded a late goal to draw with at Peterborough United.

The Dons boss spoke after a 1-1 draw at Stadium MK, with Aaron Collins’ first-half goal cancelled out by a late equaliser from Posh sub Chris Conn-Clarke.

Reflecting after Warne, said he felt the result was a downer ending and that the team still had work to do to meet its goals.

He said, “Of all the draws we’ve had, this is the saddest. I think the lads are disappointed they didn’t see it through. Peterborough are a really good footballing side who’ve virtually outpassed everyone they’ve played so far but I didn’t think our goal was under a lot of threat. There was a lot of possession in our final third but it never felt like our keeper was pulling off worldie saves or anything.

“That said, until you get a second goal, the opposition are always going to keep plugging away and we got done with a bit of a cross-shot. We had chances to get a second goal and didn’t, and the bit that upset me at times is that I thought our basics weren’t very good, which is something we need to address to give ourselves a better chance to win a game. You can’t expect to score two or three every week to win, and two or three has given us a draw before.

“I would expect us to have a little more energy come the end of the game as I just thought we looked a bit flat. We made changes and bought on players to give us fresh legs but possibly didn’t have the impetus on the team I wanted.”

Warne said he felt his side could’ve taken advantage of some opportunities, with a great chance for Dan Crowley that they couldn’t take one of the moments where the win seemed to slip away.

He said, “At times today, we created some really good opportunities that just fizzed out a bit, and the second half, we got into good areas but hit the keepers hands with crosses, which is frustrating. Then obviously we have a really good chance with Dan and you’d back him to score, obviously he didn’t miss on purpose but it would’ve been fitting for his start to get a goal.

“It’s not to be and then its a sucker punch to concede late on but I can’t say Peterborough’s efforts didn’t deserve something because they possibly did, but I didn’t feel like our goal was under massive threat. But it was difficult for us to get a grip on it in the last 20 minutes.”

With 5 draws in the opening 6, Warne said his side had a bit of work to do if they were to meet pre-season hopes of challenging for a second consecutive promotion.

He said, “I don’t think we’ve been as good as I would’ve liked. That’s the honest truth – I would’ve expected us to be better in a lot of games, possibly.

“Weirdly, our best performance was probably the first one of the season. Then, it’s been difficult. Huddersfield and Leicester at home were difficult teams. Today was winnable and we put ourselves in a much better position – I think this is the first time this season we’ve scored first in a game so we gave ourselves a right chance to go on and win it but it wasn’t to be. I do feel for the dressing room but as a learning game, which sounds a bit coach-y, we need to learn from the mistakes we’ve made because if they become habits, it’s going to be a long winter and we don’t want that.

“We came here to be at the top end of the table and compete and at the moment, we’re just letting ourselves down on a few basics.”