MK Dons head coach Scott Lindsey felt his side needed to be more assertive after taking the lead against Crewe.

The Dons had taken the lead against Crewe early on through Joe White’s ninth minute goal, but the team were unable to build on it before Jamie Knight-Lebel’s equaliser in the second half.

Speaking after the game, Lindsey said he felt his side could’ve done more to press home the advantage they had won early on.

He said, “I thought we didn’t step forward when we should’ve. We get the first goal quite early and I think that after we scored, we spent the next ten minutes in our half of the pitch. So I want us to be braver. I want us to step forward, keep attacking, keep playing and keep creating opportunities for us to go and get two goals and make it harder for the opposition.

“But we seemed to step backwards a little bit and invite Crewe onto us, and we spent the next ten minutes in our half of the pitch. So I was disappointed by that. I wanted to show a little more bravery after the first goal.”

Lindsey also said he had mixed views on the second half, feeling a slow start was seen around the equaliser but that he felt the side did improve in the final stages against a tricky defence to play against.

“Second half, I didn’t think we started the half very well. We huffed and puffed a little bit and then we kind of got a little bit more control through the second half. I think there was some good passages and right at the end, probably last five minutes, we looked like the team that were trying to win it.

“We didn’t create loads but I must admit we just played against a really solid defence in Crewe. Before the game, they were third in the division for clean sheets.

“They’re a really hard nut to crack and they don’t allow you much space or to cross balls or get in behind them or find spaces in the box. We tried very hard to do that but come up against a good team. They were fourth in the league before we played them for a reason – they’re a good side.”

Reflecting on proceedings as a whole, Lindsey said he felt that there were positive and negative qualities on display.

He said, ”I’m really proud of how we played in moments of that game and we’re getting there. But I want us to be braver. I want us to really step forward. When you go 1-0 up, go get another one, do you know what I mean? We looked a little bit nervy and wanted to defend that 1-0 but I didn’t. I wanted to step forward.”

He also said, “It’s an improvement from this performance today. I liked lots of today and it’s a work in progress. I’m new in the job and it’s a new squad in many ways, so it’s a work in progress. We played against a good side today and there were moments when they looked good and we looked good.”