Roberto Di Matteo was left reeling after enduring his first defeat in the league since the opening day of the campaign, and his first ever loss at stadium:mk.
Di Matteo’s MK Dons went down 2-1 after a late penalty was converted by Town’s Simon Cox, after Craig Easton went down in the penalty area.
However, the Italian thought that the decision was harsh on his side, although he did attempt his utmost to bite his tongue when it came to talking about Premier League referee Steve Bennett’s crucial match-decider.
‘I felt their penalty was a very harsh decision from the ref, we’ve just watched it back on the TV and I’d rather not say too much about that,’ he told mkdons.co.uk.
The Dons had plenty of chances in the first half, and could have been a few goals ahead by the break but for some more clinical finishing.
Di Matteo went on, ‘We started the game well, created three or four chances and I was quite happy with the first half.’
‘The fact that Swindon put 10 men behind the ball and closed down the spaces – that made it very hard. But we created three or four good chances that we should have scored from.’
‘We know teams will come here and put 10 men behind the ball – we’ll have to work on it.’
The Italian also bemoaned the heat in Milton Keynes, saying that it had an adverse effect not only on his players, but also on the game.
‘The heat played a big part, the tempo wasn’t as high as I’d like it to be and then we gave a little present to Swindon with the first goal.’
‘We managed to get one back and I kind of felt we would win the game in the last 10 minutes.’
Looking ahead, the manager said he is after a big performance next weekend, when 15th-placed Yeovil Town visit the stadium:mk.
‘I would have been happy with the draw in the end after we went down and got one back. But it’s one of those games that just goes against you.’
‘It’s good we have a home game next week and I expect a big performance from the players,’ he added.
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RdM is right – we should have had this game sewn up by the break, and we only have ourselves to blame for letting Swindon back into it. They were awful first half, sitting back like that with ten men behind the ball. It’s just a lesson we have to learn, and hopefully we’ll be better off dealing with it next time.