We spoke to Paul Simpson following our defeat at MK Dons.
“It was a tough afternoon, and hugely disappointing," he said.
“The goals are obviously very disappointing, the way we've given them away, the way we've been cut open with balls inside, when we always talk about narrowing off and making sure it goes wide. We've been done by that, but we've had moments before that. We've had moments at 0-0 where we haven't been able to find the quality in the final third.
“We've got in two or three times straight from kick-off. We've had half a chance with Daniel and his touch goes too far straight into the keeper. Then another couple of opportunities to get decent balls in the box.
“Probably their first moment of the half and they get that quality in from Nemane. It's a simple tap-in. We've got two defenders in there who don't pick up the striker.
“At the start of the second half, we've had opportunities again to get back in it. We felt if we could get the next goal, We'd go on and get back in to it. If you don't show that bit of quality when you get in there, you end up chasing it. That's what's happened, unfortunately.”
The first two goals took on a very similar look, with balls in behind the full-back allowing Nemane to pull it across, we asked Paul about that, he said:
“The top and bottom of it was that they had that bit of quality in the final third when they got there. We didn't have that today. We had the opportunities to do it, but we didn't execute it very well. We end up coming away with a big defeat.
“We didn't do the basics right. We didn't pass the ball well enough. We had to change it at half-time just to try and do something different. And as I said, we created some opportunities.
“I thought Dominic Sadi came into it and gave us a little bit of energy, a bit of life. Their goalkeepe made two good saves, one from Dominic and one from Daniel.
“So we've had some opportunities there, but we haven't done enough. And when you don't do enough, you get beaten.
“We had the opportunities and we didn't find the pass in the final third, even at 2-0. We've had chances where we're going down the left and we've fired balls across and we've not found our players, not picked anybody out. So it has been a tough day and we've just got to get home and dust ourselves down ready for the next one now.”
Dom Sadi made his debut after coming on at half-time, Paul spoke about him, saying:
“Yeah, I thought he did well when he came on as well. I thought it showed some good ability and good energy about him.
“I'm really pleased with that side of it. I thought Jack Ellis showed good energy when he came on as well and got himself forward. But we've made it a tough afternoon for ourselves because we've kept giving the ball away too cheaply. And if you do that against a side like MK Dons, who are possession-based, then you give yourself a problem.”
Georgie Kelly came off injured, after coming on as a second-half substitute. Paul gave us an update on him:
“Yeah, it was his calf. We don't really know how bad it is. We're just going to have to wait and see next week. But obviously, he knew straight away that there was a problem. So we've just got to assess that.
Terell Thomas was missing from the squad through injury, we asked Paul if we could expect him back next week, he responded:
“Yeah, we expect so. He just felt his hamstring last week and it's a very mild one. So it's seven to ten days. I think he's been on the grass today back at home.
“So we're hoping that he'll be able to join in training next week and be available for next Saturday.”
Over 700 Cumbrians made the trip to Stadium MK, with some voicing their displeasure at full-time. Paul spoke on that:
“They're going to be unhappy when you lose 3-0. It's understandable. We thank them for the support and we have to accept that they're not very happy because we've lost.”
