Tisdale not getting carried away as MK Dons move into top three

Posted Sunday, March 10, 2019 by PA

MK Dons boss Paul Tisdale is refusing to get carried away with the fine form of his promotion-chasing side – saying they have achieved nothing yet.

The Dons fell behind to a Nathan Cameron’s first-half goal at Macclesfield but strikes from David Wheeler, Callum Brittain and Kieran Agard saw the visitors run out 3-1 winners.

That was a fifth successive win for Tisdale’s men, and saw them replace Mansfield in the top three of League Two.

However, Tisdale has warned his team they need to continue taking it game by game and not look too far ahead.

He said: “I don’t want to eulogise too much, it’s just another three points and until we’re up there in May we’ve got nothing.

“All we can focus on is the next game.”

He added of the Saturday’s win at Moss Rose: “I commended the players for their intent, their attitude, their energy, their play, from the first minute to the last.

“They did the same things at 1-0 down that they did at 3-1. We played good football, we pressed and competed, and the difference from half-time was a change of style.

“It was a good game for us, Macclesfield did very well in the first half and got the lead but in terms of attacking play I think we deserved it. From start to finish they were excellent.”

While MK Dons can enjoy life at the top end of the table, Macclesfield slipped deeper into relegation danger with this latest loss.

It looked promising for Sol Campbell’s men when they took a 19th-minute lead through Cameron, but they could not hold on and are now six points adrift of safety.

Campbell felt Wheeler’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time was a turning point in the game and rued his players’ inability to do the basics right.

He said: “We’ve had a good go against a top side, it would have been better if we’d come in at 2-0 (at half-time) but it was 1-1 so the whole game changed.

“But we need to keep the concentration, the focus and the drive.

“When you look at MK Dons, they did stuff that was quite basic but effective. We need to do the job right, not allow guys to get back in, just defend properly, keep the ball.”

The former England defender is not giving up hope they can avoid the drop, though.

He added: “We’ve got 30 points to play for and 10 games that will define us.

“The players are hurting but they’ve got to dust themselves off and go for it. Until it’s mathematical I won’t be giving up. It’s still in our hands and while it is in our hands it’s still worth fighting for.”