Wednesday slumped to a hugely disappointing 2-1 defeat at MK Dons on Tuesday night.
We were fortunate to be only one goal behind at half-time, following a dismal first 45 minutes and, after the home side doubled the lead soon after the restart, it was only in the last 20 minutes that we looked like possibly salvaging something from the game.
Carlos Carvalhal said afterwards: “In the first half, we were a shadow of our team. We had a lot of problems in controlling the ball and we missed a lot of passes, which is not normal in our team.
“We brought it back to 2-1 and we tried to go for the draw and the only positive part of the game was the way we reacted and finished the game.”
He added: “This group is all together and sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint why certain things can happen in certain games. But what we are certain of is that we must correct the mistakes we have made when we get back to Hillsborough for the next two games.”
Wednesday allowed the home side to gain the upper hand in the early stages and it was no surprise when they took a 25th minute lead. Alex Lopez gave the ball away in midfield and when it found its way to Carl Baker on the right-hand side of the box, he was allowed to ghost through the defence and knock the ball home with ease.
Wednesday, with Lucas Joao on for the ineffective Atdhe Nuhiu, began the second-half in more aggressive mood but this was soon undone when Fernando Forestieri’s misplaced pass allowed Samir Carruthers to send Nicky Maynard through and he slotted past Keiren Westwood.
The home side, while being allowed to dictate matters for much of the time, looked fragile when pressed and, with Wednesday finally showing some appetite for the fight, substitute Gary Hooper gave us hope when he fired home his first goal for the club from Ross Wallace’s pull back with 13 minutes remaining.
However, despite continuing to press, we failed to grab an unlikely equaliser and defeat sees us drop to ninth spot and four points off the play-off places.