Yates pounces as the Tangerines sink MK, but what’s next for Martin’s stylish Dons?

MK Dons crash to a third successive defeat in a week following another defensive mishap that has cost them in recent weeks, with the result being another case of the Dons “throwing away the points” and not “being beaten by the opposition”.

A first-half finish from Blackpool’s top scorer Jerry Yates won all three points for Neil Critchley’s men and keeps their impressive away form and Play-Off push alive.

It was another evening that must leave MK Dons manager Russell Martin pulling his hair out after another defensive mistake cost his side three crucial points at home to Play-Off chasing Blackpool after shipping a needless goal in the 34th minute.

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Martin has been adamant that his adopted approach of building from the back, which has drawn its praises whilst his side went through a recent run of eight victories in 11 outings, has since seen his team lose four of their last five matches and sit far enough outside the relegation zone to be extremely unlikely to be dragged in.

They are now out of sight of any potential Play-Off push given the games in hand of those teams above themselves in the table.

With an unwavering belief that their “Plan A”, using a tactic similar to that employed by Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United of high intensity defending coupled with short, sharp triangles across the field- whilst also more than happy to see the goalkeeper become pressurised and “play their way out”- is the right tactic to use, but this has caused just as many issues in recent weeks as it has chances.

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In their last three matches on the road, Martin’s men gave away two needless penalties inside the opening 20 minutes in a 4-2 loss on the road at Shrewsbury Town, another sloppy defensive error helped Gillingham roll out victors despite complete domination of Steve Evans’ side prior to their comeback, and, then a 90th-minute horror-show at Wigan Athletic where his men lost 3-0 against the team placed 24th and rock bottom.

The abject result and display was summed up emphatically by Wigan’s third goal, where the ball went from a threatening position on the edge of the Athletic penalty area to the back of the Dons net in the space of four passes and all of their own undoing, firstly under-hitting a 40-yard back pass which Andrew Fisher tried passing from an audaciously difficult position instead of simply clearing his lines.

To keep the worrying trend continuing, the latest defeat was courtesy of a mix-up between centre-back Harry Darling and his teammates.

In the 34th minute, Darling collected the ball and turned himself into trouble before attempting an incredibly over-ambitious pass to fellow centre back Warren O’Hora. The ball was seized upon by Jerry Yates who coolly drove goalward before rounding the onrushing Fisher in goal for the hosts and collecting all three points in the process.

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If the mistakes were coming from the same individuals each week then Martin would be able to easily eradicate with selection changes, but of the last four defeats, the match-deciding errors have come from different individuals each time.

It will undoubtedly bring immense frustration to the 35-year-old manager the way the points are being thrown away, and it is almost as if teams have unearthed a blueprint with the best way to counter the stats-dominant style they come up against.

As demonstrated perfectly by Blackpool, the Tangerines sat back and soaked up the free-passing Dons defence and then as soon as the ball entered the midfield, uniformly pounced, and pressed immediately, continuing to do so until the move is snuffed out and the play broke down.

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The term “smash and grab” could easily be rolled out to describe the match result but with the Dons choosing to play out from so deep, having no issues continuing to develop moves on their own goal line, mistakes can occur from any area on the field and happened a number of times in the game.

Blackpool were afforded the luxury of receiving free possession on the edge of the Dons penalty area after expansive cross-field passes deep in their own area broke down and went out of play.

For all the errors in the play costing them points at present, there are avenues of light at the end of tunnel breaking through; his team were able to put together a mammoth 420 more passes than Blackpool, controlling 71% of the match possession and creating seven shots in the process.

None were able to be converted and even placed on target, coming closest through Cameron Jerome whose effort struck the crossbar late in the second-half.

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Only time will tell for Russell Martin whether he can manage to coach and train his current crop of players into those capable of playing in the manner required, especially considering the large squad overhaul witnessed in the January transfer window, but until that happens, the desire for points is still needed to stave off any relegation threats until they are mathematically safe.

This result means MK Dons remain 16th in the League One table with 42 points after 34 games, whilst Blackpool rise one place and sit 11th with 48 points to their name, having played 30 matches also this season.

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