Michael Jolley hails Grimsby resolve following MK Dons draw

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

Grimsby boss Michael Jolley felt his side were good value for their 1-1 draw at MK Dons.

Jordan Cook opened the scoring for the visitors before Robbie Simpson levelled one minute into the second half.

The Mariners held out for a draw despite Paul Dixon’s straight red with eight minutes remaining.

Dixon received his marching orders after a two-footed challenge on Jordan Moore-Taylor but Grimsby showed their resolve to claim an away point.

Jolley heaped praise on his side’s display throughout the contest and believes there are positives to take from their start to the campaign.

“I think we played really well in the first half and we’ve come to a good side in MK Dons and we dominated that first half – to come here and get a point is really positive,” he said.

“We definitely need to improve our conversion because we’ve played some excellent football and created a number of chances and we’ve only scored one goal so that’s the next stage for us.

“We changed our shape in the second half to try and stop them getting crosses into our box and I think that settled things down for us – that became difficult after the sending off but fair play to them the lads have put their bodies on the line for us and come away with a well-earned point.”

MK Dons boss Paul Tisdale took over from Keith Millen in the summer after spending 12 years at Exeter and has seen his side take eight points from their opening four matches.

The 45-year-old hailed the support he has been shown since joining the club and despite not taking all three points against Grimsby, saw plenty of potential within the ranks.

He said: “I thought it was a really good game of football and I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching the players respond and the fight they showed in the second half.

“I was very disappointed with how we played in that first 20 minutes and with every passing game I’m learning more about how we are as a team – but all our talk and focus is positive and is around how we can score goals.

“We made some adjustments at half time and that’s my job and it’s about how we could make an instant change to the flow of the game.

“Since I’ve been here I’ve had nothing but warmth and positive energy from all the supporters and those in the club – it’s a really nice club and I’m delighted to be here and it was good to show a fighting performance to show we do have that in us.”