MK Dons boss Mike Williamson spoke rather positively on the whole about his side, despite being on the end of a heavy loss against Bradford City on Tuesday night.
Bradford would hand Williamson’s side a 4-0 loss at Valley Parade which somewhat halts the Dons’ recent momentum. Prior to the defeat on Tuesday, MK Dons had three wins from their last four matches and looked to be putting a serious tilt for a spot in the automatic places together.
The loss does impact their chances of making it into the top three as well as Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Mansfield Town all winning above them. Yet they are still well in the fight despite having what can only be described as an ‘off-day’ against Bradford.
MK Dons stay in sixth place yet are now six points off of Crewe who operate the final automatic spot currently in third. Williamson’s side do however have a game in hand and will be looking to make the best use of that in order to close the gap.
This Saturday they travel to an out-of-form Swindon Town who have just one win in their last seven games. Therefore it represents a great opportunity for the Dons to get back to winning ways.
The manner in which manager Mike Williamson spoke after the loss emphasises the confidence that he has in his players’ ability.
Speaking to club media after the game, the manager would go onto say:
“It’s a difficult one to take and we came here wanting to build and add to our points tally which is disappointing but other than that I’m proud of the boys.”
“It was a difficult pitch to play on, I thought we controlled it and the first goal was against the run of play, that’s the nature of it.
“We’ve got to be humble in defeat but the character and willingness was out there. The heads didn’t drop and they wanted to move the ball. It was a bit of a crazy football game. It was as if they had an invisible wall in front of their goal.”
“The lads’ quality will differ and I can accept that. But it’s their desire and intention is what I’ll judge them on and I’m really happy with the spirit and the grit of the boys.”
“I didn’t see anything that disappointed me. There’s so much to work with moving forward. We’ve got to improve in many different areas but the boys are willing to do that.”
Writer’s View
It is very interesting just how positive Williamson was in his post-match comments despite being on the receiving end of a heavy defeat. That obviously shows confidence as well as the faith he has in his set of players.
Every team is open to being on the end of a freak result and this one may just be MK Dons’ one for the season. They’ll now be expected to bounce back on Saturday against Swindon and re-find winning form. The club have been on an incredible run in the last couple of months and more than deserve a place in the play-offs at least.
It’s tight at the top of the table and there really is no reason as to why MK Dons can’t get promoted automatically if they do bounce back from this result.
Senior Editor