In the League Two play-offs, MK Dons’ head coach Mike Williamson thinks his club has the heart to overcome a 3-0 first-leg loss to Crawley Town.
At Broadfield Stadium, the Dons were forced to wait for their play-off semifinal first-leg match. After a lot of rain on Monday, the first game was postponed to Tuesday night because the field was too wet to play.
Liam Kelly gave the home team an early lead in the first leg, and it only took MK Dons five minutes to lose. Before the half, Williamson’s team gave up again, and in the second half, they gave up a third.
Before the second leg at the Stadium MK on Saturday, there were positive signals for the Buckinghamshire team despite the loss. According to Whoscored, Williamson’s team tried 13 shots compared to Crawley’s 12 and had five on target.
Furthermore, the Dons have triumphed in eight of their previous 11 League Two home games and scored three goals or more in five of their previous six games at Stadium MK. According to Whoscored, the only teams that finished the League Two season with better home records than MK Dons were Wrexham and Stockport County, both of whom were promoted via top-three finishes.
Speaking to the Milton Keynes Citizen on the play-off situation after the 3-0 loss at Crawley, Williamson stated that he is fully aware of the difficult task his team has in the second leg. The former Gateshead manager, though, encouraged his team to give it their all in a retaliatory move against Stadium MK.
“We know we’ve got a mountain to climb, but we’ve got a bunch of lads who are capable of doing that. We have to dust ourselves down and choose to react in a way, of keeping our heads, and we’ve got to believe that we have more than enough to overturn this.
“We don’t need any more motivation, we know what we’ve got, which personalities we’ve got.
“We’ll turn up on Saturday, empty the tank and give everything. If we do go down, we’ll do it looking like us, feeling like us and exhausting every avenue. We’re looking forward to Saturday now. One thing I saw was a drive and desire to drive each other on out there.
“The fight and endeavour was there, the quality might vary but the spirit didn’t.”
Writer’s View
Williamson’s only hope is to spur his team to attack if MK Dons are to reverse the deficit in this play-off matchup against Crawley by making the most of their home advantage. Ultimately, relying on the goal threat that netted 19 goals at Stadium MK in the last six home games of the season is the only option to ignite a comeback.
But if their defensive problems persist, Williamson and MK Dons may be in for another challenging day on Saturday. According to Whoscored, MK Dons have given up a league-high 11 goals in their previous three League Two games. Three more goals given up at Crawley highlighted the Dons’ areas of need for improvement if they are to survive this matchup.
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