MK Dons continued their miserable run after a 3-0 home defeat to fellow lower mid-table outfit Barrow.

A goal in each half by Aaron Pressley and a late third by Tyler Smith made for a painful afternoon for the hosts, continuing a run that has seen MK Dons pick up fewer points than anyone else in League Two in 2025.

Defeat means that MK Dons drop a place to 19th position in the League Two table, with the side from Stadium MK now 10 points above the relegation zone with 5 games to go.

After conceding seven goals in defeats by Fleetwood and Notts County, MK Dons continued their drift towards the end of the season with a home clash against fellow midtable side Barrow. Victory would’ve seen them rise above Barrow in the table and go one step closer to ending any lingering worries about going down.

Seeking a boost after those two bruising results, MK Dons came mighty close to an early breakthrough. After Barrow only half-cleared a corner, Dan Crowley put in a great cross for an unmarked Jack Sanders, whose header was tipped over by Barrow keeper Wyll Stanway.

An even start on a sunny if breezy day in Milton Keynes saw both sides have their moments early on, with Connor Lemonheigh-Evans seeing a shot saved by Stanway before Barrow’s Isaac Fletcher saw a decent free-kick strike the side-netting.

With 16 minutes on the clock, it was Barrow that found the game’s opening goal. After winning the ball in the middle, Barrow worked the ball down their right-hand flank and Connor Mahoney’s cross met Pressley, who buried a header into the back of the net for the opening goal.

MK Dons initially responded brightly to the shock, with Scott Hogan and Laurence Maguire missing the target with efforts in the box.

Barrow could’ve extended their advantage, however, as Kyle Cameron was picked out by a Barrow corner only to side-foot his attempt just wide.

Stanway was then on hand to keep out Hogan and then timed his intervention just right to prevent Alex Gilbey from rounding him after the Dons’ captain had been played through by a fast break.

The Barrow keeper also made a good stop to keep out Tommi O’Reilly, before Lemonheigh-Evans briefly thought he’d equalised after touching the ball home at the back post from Hogan’s header across goal only for an offside flag to interrupt the celebrations.

Having had plenty of first half opportunities for an equaliser, MK Dons initially began the second period with some attacking pace without creating many chances.

But a second Barrow goal would instead come just before the hour. From an MK Dons corner, a swift Barrow break saw Fletcher release Pressley in a central position with no defenders around him. The striker duly charged to the box and beat Trueman, allowing a striker who’d scored just one goal all season before the match to score his second goal of the afternoon.

MK Dons did have some attempts to get back into things, with Hogan missing the target with two efforts before Stanway was able to put off Gilbey and prevent his effort from creeping over the line.

Home sub Danilo Orsi would see a strike saved by Stanway, before Barrow’s Ben Jackson had a chance to make it three only to miss the target.

That was then the end of the day for match referee Jamie O’Connor, who pulled up injured while trying to keep up with Jackson’s run, leading to a near five minute stoppage while he was replaced by fourth official Paul Lister-Flynn.

In the third of the nine added minutes, Barrow sealed their success with a third. Two of their subs combined on a counter as Ben Whitfield teed up fellow arrival Smith, who tapped home to grab Barrow their third and condemn MK Dons to another defeat after a miserable week.

MK Dons: Trueman – Offord, Sanders, Maguire – O’Reilly (Leko 78), Thompson-Sommers (Orsi 68), Crowley, Tomlinson (Nemane 68) – Lemonheigh-Evans, Hogan, Gilbey

Subs not used: MacGillivray, Kelly, Tripp, Waller

Booked: Offord, O’Reilly, Leko

Barrow: Stanway – Foley (Barnes 69), Canavan, Cameron – Jackson, Mahoney (Smith 69), Campbel (Kouyate 90), Gotts, Newby – Fletcher (Whitfield 69) – Pressley (Acquah 69)

Subs not used: Farman

Goal: Pressley (16, 57), Smith (90+3)