“The most complete performance”: Jacko’s take on Dons’ loss to Shrews

“Football is cruel,” said Mark Jackson after MK Dons conceded in the 89th minute to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night to lose 1-0 at Stadium MK.

Shrews had only mustered a single effort on goal prior to Tom Bayliss strike at the death, and that came five minutes earlier via a tame header from Ryan Bowman.

Dons meanwhile put in what head coach Jackson described as their best performance under his watch, and deserved to come away with at least a point for their efforts.

“In my time here, that's the most complete performance we've seen,” Jackson said. “We talk about behaviours, and how we want the team to play to create our identity, I was really pleased with things today.

“We need results, but I'm really confident if we continue in that frame of mind with those levels of performance, we'll win games.

“We imposed ourselves on the game from the first minute right up until their goal. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes in football, but we've got to be proud of what we achieved tonight. Performances like that, if we continue them, will help us pick up wins.”

Shrewsbury came to Stadium MK having thumped relegation battlers Burton 4-0 and Cambridge United 5-1 in their last two outings, but looked distinctly second best to Dons all night before snatching the late win with only their second attempt.

“They're a very good team,” Jackson continued. “We watched them, knew how they'd threaten us but we cannot take away from what we're about. We wanted to impose our ability on and off the ball, and we did that for the most part. It was just a lapse at the end, and I don't blame anyone for that.

“I've told them not to dwell on it. Be down and upset about it but we can't dwell on it. They've put in a shift. It was physically demanding, we ask a lot of them.

“We have to recover our minds well, and we look forward to the next game, and I'm glad it's coming on Saturday.”