Stephen Crainey insists Fleetwood deserved draw against MK Dons

Posted Wednesday, February 09, 2022 by PA

Fleetwood manager Stephen Crainey felt his side were good value for a point as Paddy Lane’s second-half strike secured a 1-1 draw against promotion-chasing MK Dons.

Defender Harry Darling headed home Scott Twine’s free-kick to put the Dons ahead after 12 minutes on a rain-sodden night at Highbury Stadium.

But Lane was on hand to cancel it out six minutes after the restart, picking up Ellis Harrison’s lay-off before smashing the ball past Jamie Cumming for his fourth goal of the season.

“[There were] two footballing teams that want to try and get the ball down and play but it was a real difficult surface for both teams tonight,” Crainey said.

“I thought MK Dons had a lot of the ball in the first half but without really troubling us. And obviously they score from the set-play.

“The set-play was disappointing on our behalf, but I thought we showed more energy, more hunger and more desire in the second half and I thought we deserved our draw in the end.”

Crainey thought his team lacked a bit of energy in the opening 45 minutes.

“I said to them at half-time, it’s not us,” he added.

“But we got that (an improved performance) in the second half.

“We’re a real fit group, we’ve got good energy in the side and I thought that showed in the second half and as I say, we got our just rewards with the goal and I’m disappointed not to win it but as I say we’ll take the point.”

Fleetwood have now drawn four consecutive League One games and remain in 19th place, three points above the relegation zone.

MK Dons missed the chance to leapfrog Wigan into second spot, but manager Liam Manning was impressed with how his players dealt with the tricky conditions.

“It was a really tough evening I think,” he said.

“You look at the condition of the pitch – obviously the rain being up here. I thought we played some good stuff first half.

“I thought the lads showed an element of bravery to try and play in the right areas.

“I thought we made some good decisions in terms of where and when to play.

“I actually thought we played some really good stuff on a really difficult pitch.

“The second half is slightly frustrating I think in terms of how we came out and just even with the conditions it got a little bit worse.”