Paul Tisdale relieved to bring an end to winless run

MK Dons boss Paul Tisdale says it was a “relief” to get a 2-0 win at Port Vale, which ended their five-game winless run in League Two.

Tisdale’s side, who move to sixth in the table following their victory, withstood early pressure from Vale before goals from Chuks Aneke and Kieran Agard before half-time sealed the win.

“It’s a mixture of sentiment. I think we’ve deserved some wins over the last two or three games and haven’t got them,” Tisdale said.

“A bit of relief and I’m very pleased for the players and the way they played today. It’s very easy to lose confidence but that confidence has been building over the last two or three games, missing chances and points that we should of readily taken.

“We got two but we could’ve scored three or four today so it’s about maintaining that level of play.

“I think the difference over the last month has been dominating possession at the right time. We took charge of the game today whereas five or six weeks ago we could’ve battled to keep the ball out of the net for an hour.  They ran themselves into the ground today to try and get that win.”

Port Vale’s Neil Aspin commended his side after they struggled with injury as midfield maestro Manny Oyeleke left the field early with a hamstring injury.

“I think you can’t fault their attitude because at 2-0 down and with injuries they kept going but against MK Dons, we weren’t going to get back in it,” Aspin said.

“I’m not going to make excuses. MK Dons are a good team and we’ve been beaten so we have to take it on the chin and go again.

“They worked hard tonight, they just have to keep a level head because we know we have to be better. To be challenging the strong teams, it’s going to take time and we have to be patient.”

Aspin wasn’t happy with the criticism over bringing on Cristian Montano at half-time after he limped off 20 minutes later.

“If he wasn’t 100 per cent fit he wouldn’t have been on the bench,” he said.

“ If a player says he’s fit, do you think I’m going to bring somebody on who’s not fit? That’s ridiculous. How stupid do you think I am? I don’t know why he went off injured after 15 minutes.”

The former Norwich defender also expressed his concern over the goals they conceded.

“When it’s on the pitch, it’s down to the players and all I can do is give them information. I’ve only seen the goals once and if you concede a goal as bad as the second goal, you’re not going to win matches when you defend like that.”