Improved performance from Alex in the second period but we kind find enough to salvage something from tough trip to Stadium MK.
Crewe Alexandra suffered their 7th straight defeat against the in-form side in League One, but there were some encouraging signs in the second half against an excellent MK Dons side. Liam Manning’s side have won 11 of their last 14 games to put themselves firmly in the race for automatic promotion.
Crewe gave themselves a mountain to climb after going in at the interval 2-0 down but after a switch to a flat back four and the introduction of a fit-again Mikael Mandron kept going and scored a deserved consolation goal when Bassala Sambou netted in stoppage time.
Following the 2-1 defeat at Stadium MK, the Alex boss told us: “I thought we made a far better fist of it in the second half. I thought we were a bit bold in our aggressive actions when trying to get the ball back in that first half and they have managed to get in behind us. The lad scored a great goal for the first goal and then the second goal was a solo effort where we could have done more. There are always reasons behind every goal and they got in behind us.
“In the second half that happened far less and we certainly had more action in and around their penalty area which ended in what I thought was a well deserved goal from Bass. It was too little too late though because we had shot ourselves in the foot in the first half.
“We had a good chat with the players afterwards which I am sure will put them in good stead going forward. The players gave something back and it was healthy. It was good.
He added: “It is not easy, we all know it’s not easy. You find out in times like these about a real test of character and you soon find out. To keep going and score in the last minute is a sign of promise and for large parts of the second half we matched one of the best footballing sides in the division.”