Millers chief Paul Warne was quick to express his disappointment at his side’s narrow 3-2 defeat at the hands of relegation threatened Milton Keynes Dons.
The Millers threw away an early lead gained through Semi Ajayi as goals from Robbie Muirhead and Peter Pawlett turned the game on it’s head at stadium:mk.
Muirhead’s second of the evening gave the Buckinghamshire side a two-goal cushion and although sub Jon Taylor gave the Millers hope of securing a point late on, the home side withstood a late rally from the visitors, to inflict a second defeat in as many games on Warne’s side- to the frustration of the Millers boss.
Speaking to the assembled media afterwards, Warne said:
“I have no complaints about the result. We started the game really well and deservedly took the lead. We looked a real threat but for whatever reason, we did not continue to do that and we let them back in and I thought their top-two caused all sorts of problems,” Warne admitted.
“Twenty-minutes of madness cost us. We had a bad spell in the first half that killed us and I questioned the lads a little bit at half-time and then we had a real go. The ‘keeper made a good save with 20 minutes to go and I thought it was in, off Semi. The lads were playing more like it.”
Despite the nature of the scoreline, Warne was pleased with the impact of his second-half substitutes, who gave his side a glimmer of hope of claiming a share of the spoils despite falling two goals behind at one stage.
“I was pleased with the way they reacted and the subs went on and made a positive impact,” Warne added.
“Taylor came on and gave us some energy. Jerry got in behind. Matt Palmer was good when he came on and was calm on the ball. We got a goal back and I thought we were throwing the kitchen sink at them, but it was all too far from their goal.
“It was disappointing when they got the third goal but when we got it back to 3-2, I thought we would get an equaliser. There are some disappointed lads in there but we need to pick them up again for the next game.”
Following their excellent run of form, either side of the year, Warne conceded his side were dealt a blow at stadium:mk – although he is backing his troops to return to winning ways, when they make the trip to Northampton Town on Saturday.
“It was a disappointing result and we have lost the last two games by one goal, against two teams fighting for their lives. It’s not a crisis but we need to get back to winning ways very quickly,” Warne added.
“The lads are a good group. They have lost two games in 17 and lost them by one goal. We set up to win games. We will tell them where they went wrong and I want them to have more confidence on the ball.”