Sutton boss delighted to see a ‘Matt Gray side’ in draw with MK Dons

Matt Gray was delighted to see a “Matt Gray side” in Sutton’s 1-1 draw with MK Dons.

The U’s ended a dismal run of seven successive Sky Bet League Two defeats with the point picked up at Gander Green Lane.

Omar Sowunmi’s powerful header opened the scoring before Alex Gilbey’s low strike secured the Dons a share of the spoils.

“The most important thing was the performance and seeing a Matt Gray team again and we did that,” admitted Gray.

“It’s been a disappointing number of games and weeks where we haven’t looked like that.

“How we’ve been really successful in the past four years is by being hard to beat and we haven’t been like that in recent weeks.

“We need to be solid and really well organised and we were like that today.

“It was an outstanding first-half performance and they scored a goal out of nothing early in the second half.

“The important thing was being strong a solid and we did just that. We’re very pleased with a lot of the performances and us as a team.

“We were excellent. The longer the first half went on I wanted us to convert that pressure and we did that by getting the goal from a set-piece. It was a great delivery and a superb header.”

Graham Alexander was left with a sour taste in his mouth after being forced to settle with a point.

He said: “We’re disappointed with a point, but more disappointed with how we approached the first half.

“We didn’t drop enough in the first half. We weren’t as committed as we were in previous games.

“I was trying to see how the game panned out and they scored from a set-piece, which we knew they would be a danger from.

“I thought second half we passed the ball with a purpose and commitment and deservedly got back into the game.

“We should have taken advantage to get another goal. But you’re wary that you have to defend against Sutton and the balls they put into the box. We had to manage both sides of the game.

“I thought we got dragged into a game that didn’t suit us and we need to learn from that.

“What we see Monday to Friday are players who run with purpose and train hard and commit. We do it in spells of games, but not in a full performance.”