Alex boss says defence had an off day

Steve Davis says his defence were quick to hold their hands up after conceding five goals against a clinical MK Dons side on Saturday. The Alex came up against one of the outstanding sides in League One but that didn’t excuse what Davis described as ‘poor defending from us.'

Individual errors proved costly as Karl Robinson’s side scored five goals to briefly go top of League One. Davis was quick to praise the lethal finishing of the visitors but he was disappointed with the manner of the goals we ended up conceding.

The Alex boss told the club’s official web-site: “We have had days like Saturday in this league when we have been on the receiving end of a high score. MK Dons did that to us earlier in the season and Brentford scored five a couple of times against us before they were promoted.

“We have been in good form at home and our record against the MK Dons at home has been decent over the last few years, so the score line was unexpected. We have had some tight games against them at Gresty Road in the past but we were not at it and none of our players payed to there usual standard. When that happens it becomes very difficult.

“That goes to show the quality of the league and the fact that if you make mistakes or are not at it then you are going to get punished by quality players.

“We got punished by the MK Dons after making some basic errors. We defended poorly at times and the back lads were quick to hold their hands up. They know they can be better than that.

He added: “The previous week at Port Vale they won us the match in the last 20 minutes and have been doing well of late, so it was just a bad day all round. They were all disappointed but we have to quickly move on and make sure we are all better for the trip to Colchester this weekend. They are determined to put it right.”