Ferguson rant gets right reaction as Doncaster hit back to beat MK Dons

Posted Sunday, April 15, 2018 by PA

Doncaster boss Darren Ferguson says his half-time team-talk inspired his side to a second-half comeback against MK Dons as they won 2-1.

MK Dons remain in the bottom four after this latest defeat, but did take the lead through Ike Ugbo after 19 minutes.

But then Ferguson tore into his players at the break and they came out and responded with two goals from John Marquis to seal the win.

Ferguson said: “We didn’t have any energy in the first half and they won every individual battle. But I got into them at half-time and in the second half they responded and in the end it was a very important win for us.

“The lads were shattered because of how much they’ve put in, but that’s an answer to anyone who thinks we’re going to peter out this season because the determination to we showed was fantastic.

“We just go onto the next one and we’re just going to try and win as many games as we can, but we know that first half was not acceptable and the players know that.

“As long as the players give me that level of performance they gave in the second half for the rest of the season then I can’t ask for anything more of them.”

MK Dons took a deserved lead after George Williams found Chuks Aneke on the edge of the box. He took the ball down and played strike partner Ugbo through on goal and the Chelsea loanee slotted home.

But Doncaster found a leveller four minutes into the second half when keeper Wieger Sietsma parried Alex Kiwomya’s shot straight into the path of Marquis, who easily tapped home his 13th of the season.

The visitors completed the turnaround just after the hour when James Coppinger sailed through the MK Dons midfield unchallenged before finding Tommy Rowe, who crossed to the unmarked Marquis inside the box and he tapped home to officially secure Ferguson’s side’s League One status next season.

MK Dons remain four points from safety and games are running out to maintain their League One status.

Manager Dan Micciche said: “We have to keep fighting for this football club because it’s a fantastic club, but nothing I say now is going to change the result.

“The players are on the floor and they understand the supporters’ frustrations, but this hurts them and supporters don’t see them every day and I know how much this means to them.

“The players are devastated because this is their careers and they want to be looking the other way.

“We know the quality is here but if we don’t defend properly we’re going to get punished and that’s the most frustrating thing because we’re doing everything else right.

“I believe in our work and we’ll keep going until someone says we mathematically can’t stay up – this will be a true test of our unity as a city now.”