Russell Martin proud of his MK Dons players after draw at Doncaster

Posted Sunday, December 08, 2019 by PA

MK Dons manager Russell Martin declared himself proud of his players after they continued their improvement with a 1-1 draw at Doncaster.

Martin was pleased with the further progression during his tenure after taking charge a month ago, with pride overtaking frustration despite Doncaster grabbing a controversial late equaliser.

“I’m really proud of the players and how they’ve played,” Martin said.

“We came away from home against a good team that’s had some really good results and we’ve completely controlled the game.

“I think we dominated the game for most of it. They had a good start but we remained composed and stuck to the plan.

“I thought they were excellent and I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t hold on for the win.

“But for me it was another step, more progression and improvement on what I’ve seen in terms of the information they’ve taken on and the courage to pull it off.

“I’m really proud of them for doing that and the only disappointment is that we couldn’t hold out.”

Alex Gilbey scored a spectacular 51st-minute opener for MK Dons but it was cancelled out in the 85th minute by Cameron John’s ricocheted effort, which Martin was far from pleased about.

“It’s a foul and I’ll be going to see the referee to show him,” he said.

“Lee (Nicholls) has brought it to his attention during the game at a previous corner to ask the ref to watch it.

“The lad has rugby tackled Lee into the goal and they end up scoring, no-one has seen it.”

Doncaster boss Darren Moore felt the draw was a positive end to a difficult week after his side exited two cup competitions in the previous six days.

“We felt we had the better chances in the game,” he said.

“We made a change at half-time to get us up the pitch and more time on the ball and make more of a game of it.

“But I’m really pleased. It’s our third game at the end of a tough week. To get the point always gives you something to work from.

“It keeps our own impressive home form going. I thought it was a never-say-die attitude from the players.

“We lost Jon Taylor in the last 24 hours which was a big blow for us. The capacity for the boys to reset themselves and get themselves ready for a game was really good for us.

“We feel that we have ended the week with a positive and certainly not a negative.

“I have seen the sense of satisfaction in the players after that one.

“The last four or five games before we felt we didn’t reach the levels we had set but we got back towards that today.”