By Martin Atherton
MK Dons fell to a miserable 1-0 defeat to Play-Off chasing outfit Blackpool on Tuesday night.
Despite seeing vast swathes of possession as always, they were unable to make it count, and a Darling error gifted the away side an easy three points.
Looking to put Saturday’s misery behind them, Martin’s side were quick to stamp their authority on the game and, as we often see, started by letting their opponents chase shadows with their crisp passing.
And they were rewarded for their good start with an excellent opportunity for Laird to fire home – the Manchester United loanee, though, somehow firing over from a matter of yards out.
But, despite the Dons being quick out of the blocks, they once again were victims of their own demise – Darling cheaply giving the ball away before Yates rounded Fisher to give his side the lead. 0-1.
From there, MK quickly let their heads dropped and looked a shadow of the side prior to the goal.
They did respond sharply – McEachran thrashing a shot just wide of the post – but everything else was all Blackpool, Turton nearly doubling his side’s advantage with a powerful header. HT 0-1.
The second half, though, provided little entertainment as MK fell to another defeat.
The only notable event at first came as a Blackpool player went down in the area under pressure from Darling, but dramatic appeals were waived away as Laird cleared.
A flurry of substitutions were made on the hour mark as the Dons looked to get themselves back in it.
That magic moment then nearly came almost immediately after – Jerome threaded through on goal expertly by Fraser but smashing his effort against the bar.
And then they once against carved something open – Grigg, however, seeing his shot smothered by Maxwell, though the offside flag was then raised.
It finally looked as if the Dons had grabbed themselves something in the dying moments – Jerome, though, deemed offside. FT 0-1.
Nothing at all to write home about tonight. The only hope is we can improve from what was a very poor outing.
The one positive to take is that Saturday’s opponents, Accrington Stanley, were mauled at the hands of an out-of-form Bristol Rovers side. Both will be looking for a response – let’s hope it’s us.
