Paul Warne was pleased his MK Dons team adapted to injury issues to beat Gillingham, though admitted he would’ve liked a slightly more comfortable conclusion after 2 late concessions.
The Dons were able to take a three goal lead against the high-flying Gills, with a Sam Gale own goal followed by second half goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Callum Paterson helping the Dons to a 3-2 win.
Gillingham did score two late on through Seb Palmer-Houlden and Jonny Williams, but it was not enough to deny victory for MK Dons as they moved back into League 2’s play-off positions.
Speaking after the game, Warne said he was pleased to take the three points, particularly after seeing Rushian Hepburn-Murphy pull out through a training injury the day before and Scott Hogan suffer an injury in the warm-up. He did however admit the two late concessions had him on edge.
He said, “It’s a good win against a really good team. We had to defend a lot of set-pieces, crosses and second balls and for large parts, we did that really well with a threat, which really pleased me.
“It was a put-together team – we lost Scott Hogan in the warm-up, lost Rushian Hepburn-Murphy yesterday, which was disappointing. It’s the first home game we’ve probably gone into where we may be the underdog if that makes sense, so we had to show a different side to us, but our work ethic today was really good.
“At 3-0, it looks like its ok, but I’m experienced enough to know if they get the next goal, nerves play a part, then they throw the kitchen sink at us. Fortunately, we had just enough to hold on.
“On another day, I’d like us to have a lot more control of the ball in the second half, as we just give it away, but that’s what pressure and nerves sometimes does to you. But I’m still pleased with the result, and on the back of winning last week, winning at home is a good feeling.”
The late withdrawal of Hogan saw him replaced in the team by Laurence Maguire, with the Dons moving from a planned 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 at the last minute. Warne said this was a reversion to the system deployed against Shrewsbury the week before, and that he was happy the team of players he had was good at taking on information.
He said, “We did play that system last week so it wasn’t too difficult for them, but it is good. I joke about how coaches can overcomplicate the game at times but the shape is only one part of it. You’ve still got to run, tackle, pick a pass, mark your man on a set piece and all that, but it’s impressive. They are really good students.
“I do feel like they retain information really well from last week and they should take massive credit from today.”
The goal that saw the Dons make it 2-0 came after a spell of Gillingham pressure, and Warne said he was pleased that his side were able to take the game’s momentum away from the Gills at a crucial stage of the contest.
He said, “There’s no bad time to score a second, but that’s a big part of it. If you look at the waves of the game, we were on top, they were on top, and we scored right at their peak when they were on top. If they get their goal and it’s 1-1, that changes the outlook of the game. I thought we missed a few other really good opportunities which would’ve taken the lead a bit further away from them, but it was a good time to score and helped settle us down a little bit.”
Victory saw the Dons return to winning ways at Stadium MK after losing their previous 3 games in League Two at home, and Warne added he felt it was a deserved victory for his side.
He said, “It does seem a long while. Initially, when we were 3-0 up, I was heartbroken we lost our clean sheet and then all of a sudden it goes from that to only 2 minutes left.
“They score one and suddenly it’s completely different. But it is good to win, and good to win at home. We’ve been reasonably good on our travels but disappointing at home and today, which really pleases me, it was when it was a bit of psychological warfare. If they sunk in themselves and thought it was not our day playing at home or its all going against us, they could’ve easily sunk and thrown away points. But they didn’t. They stood up, took it on the chin and deserved the 3 points.”
Luton Town have confirmed the departure of the club’s Head Coach Matt Bloomfield, who leaves after 9 months in charge.
Bloomfield had taken charge at Luton in January after leaving his previous club Wycombe Wanderers, but the 41-year-old has been dismissed following a slow start to the season.
After 11 games of the League One season, Luton find themselves in 11th place in the third tier table, with the Hatters having lost 3 of their last 5 games.
Along with Bloomfield, his assistant Richard Thomas, first team coach Lee Harrison and first team analyst Ben Cirne have also left the club.
Bloomfield had moved to Luton in January as a replacement for Rob Edwards, who had left Kenilworth Road with the Hatters fighting against consecutive relegations.
However, despite a run of just 2 defeats from 11 games ahead of the final day, a defeat by West Brom on the final day of last season saw Luton suffer back-to-back relegations, falling out of the Championship a year after being demoted from the Premier League.
The Hatters had invested to try and make an instant return to the second tier, but following their slow start, the club will now seek their third Head Coach of 2025.
Luton confirmed that academy coach and former player Alex Lawless, aided by Paul Benson, Kevin Foley and Kevin Pilkington, will take control of the team for the interim period, starting with Tuesday night’s Vertu Trophy trip to Cambridge United.
In a statement, the club said, “Luton Town Football Club has today parted company with manager Matt Bloomfield.
“Matt joined the Hatters in January from Wycombe Wanderers and despite overseeing a run of just two defeats in 11 games leading into the final day of the 2024/25 season, was unable to prevent relegation from the Championship following defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
“Performances and results from the opening 11 matches of the current campaign in League One have fallen below the levels expected, and the Board of Directors has taken the difficult decision to relieve Matt, his assistant Richard Thomas, first team coach Lee Harrison and first team analyst Ben Cirne of their duties.
“The Board wishes to thank Matt, Richard, Lee and Ben for their efforts during a difficult period for the Club and wishes them the very best for their future careers.”
Luton also stated that a committee involving members from the executive team, recruitment, football staff and the board has been set up to seek the next manager.
Red Bull picked up a podium finish as Max Verstappen took second at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Dutchman took a fourth Grand Prix podium in a row with a runner-up finish in Singapore, as he resisted a fight from McLaren’s Lando Norris to take the second place crown and finish as runner-up to the Mercedes of George Russell.
While Verstappen took a podium, it was a tricky evening for his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, with the Japanese driver finishing 12th and a lap down on Verstappen.
With six Grand Prix weekends, three of which are sprints, still to fight for, Verstappen remains third in the Driver’s Championship in his goal of winning a fifth consecutive championship. The Dutchman is 63 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, while he is also 41 points behind Norris in second and 36 clear of fourth place Russell.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda sits 17th in the standings, having picked up 20 points in the 2025 F1 season so far.
Red Bull remain fourth in the Constructors Championship on a weekend that saw McLaren win the title for 2025. The Milton Keynes-based team remain in a competitive fight with Mercedes and Ferrari for second place, with Red Bull 35 points behind second place Mercedes and 8 behind third place Ferrari.
Verstappen had missed out on pole on Saturday, with the Dutchman aborting his second lap in Q3 after feeling he was impeded by dirty air coming off Norris’ McLaren. But on race day, the reigning Driver’s Champion had gone for a different strategy by choosing to start on soft tyres.
As it was, Verstappen was unable to match Russell’s fast start and slotted into second, though he did see Norris make minor contact with the back of his car and in turn Norris also made contact with Piastri, who was left irritated for much of the first phase.
Like his teammate, Tsunoda also started on softs, but he made a poor start and lost places off the line, falling to 16th by the end of the first lap.
Tsunoda opted to box on lap 14 for a pit-stop onto hard tyres, before Verstappen later made a stop on lap 20.
When the other top end drivers made their pit stops, Verstappen remained in second, sat in-between Russell and Norris. Initially, the Red Bull looked to be closing on the Mercedes, but on lap 37, a major lock-up saw Verstappen have to slow down to avoid hitting the wall, allowing the Mercedes to stretch out a lead and seeing Norris close in.
Verstappen and Norris then found themselves on the tail of multiple cars that were set to fall a lap down, including Tsunoda, with Norris at one point making a lunge into turn 7 that ultimately wasn’t enough to make the overtaken happen.
In the final stages, however, Verstappen was able to create enough of a gap that Norris was unable to challenge, allowing the Red Bull to take second.
Tsunoda did have his own engagements in the final stages, with the Japanese driver nearly shoved into a wall by Franco Colapinto before getting past the Alpine when the Argentine driver overshot turn 7.
It had looked at one point as though Tsunoda might be in line to take the final point position, but he was unable to clear the Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar despite the Frenchman being held back by an engine problem. In the late stages, Tsunoda would also be passed by Carlos Sainz, who took an aggressive strategy in the latter stages to finish 10th and take the final point after starting at the back due to Williams being excluded from qualifying.
Red Bull will seek to make it 3 wins in 4 races next time out when F1 heads to Texas for the United States Grand Prix, in what will be a sprint race event.
Rangers have confirmed that they have parted company with their Head Coach and former MK Dons boss Russell Martin after 17 games.
Martin has been sacked after struggling to make an impact with the Glasgow-based club, with Rangers winning just one Scottish Premiership match, getting knocked out of the Champions League in the playoffs and starting their Europa League campaign with 2 defeats from 2.
The former Swansea and Southampton boss had signed a 3 year deal at Ibrox in the summer when appointed in June, but his departure was confirmed tonight (05/10) after Rangers dropped points in their latest draw.
Martin’s final game saw the Glaswegians draw 1-1 at Falkirk. The draw was Rangers’ 5th in 7 top flight games so far this season, with the club entering the upcoming October international break in 8th place in the table.
The draw at Falkirk ended with Martin being escorted from the stadium by police, with some Rangers fans attempting to barricade the team at the ground after their latest draw. Protests and calls from fans for his departure had been regularly heard in recent matches.
Rangers confirmed in a brief statement the departure of Martin, along with that of his former Dons’ coach Matt Gill and of fellow former Dons Head Coach Mike Williamson, who had been part of Martin’s coaching staff at Ibrox.
The club said, “Rangers Football Club confirms that it has parted company with Head Coach, Russell Martin.
“While all transition periods require some time, results have not met the club’s expectations.
“Assistant Head Coach, Matt Gill, and First-Team Coach, Mike Williamson, will also be departing.
“Russell and his staff have worked exceptionally hard throughout their time at the club. We thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future.
“Further updates from the club will follow in due course.”
Martin was appointed in November 2019 at MK Dons for his first managerial role as a successor to Paul Tisdale, with Martin having previously been playing for MK Dons before making the transition to coaching. He was able to keep MK Dons up in the covid-shortened 2019/20 campaign before managing a 13th place finish in the 2020/21 season.
He left on the eve of the 2021/22 season to take the Swansea City job, then left South Wales for Southampton in 2023 and managed promotion via the play-offs before being dismissed at St Mary’s in December 2024 with the Saints bottom of the Premier League.
Northampton Town picked up a point after a 0-0 draw against Port Vale.
The Cobblers had created a decent number of opportunities in their draw with the side from Staffordshire, but were unable to pick up a first victory since 2016 at Vale Park. They were, however, able to stop Port Vale from picking up a fourth win in a row.
A point means that Northampton sit 13th in the League One table after 10 games, with Kevin Nolan’s side picking up 14 points. Their tally puts them equidistant to the relegation zone and play-off places, with Northampton 5 points from both Huddersfield Town in 6th and Burton Albion in 21st.
Played amid windy conditions in Storm Amy’s wake, the first half saw very few opportunities created for either side. One did arise in the 41st minute, however, with home keeper Joe Gauci making a good stop to deny Cameron McGeehan after the Northern Irishman sent a header goalbound at a corner.
Many of the best chances did fall for the visitors. Gauci made a good stop to keep out Terry Taylor’s drive from distance, before Taylor fired a further strike wide and Nesta Guinness-Walker hit the side netting.
But a goal wouldn’t come for the Cobblers and they very nearly lost the points right at the end. In stoppage time, Ruari Paton saw an effort denied at close range by Northampton keeper Ross Fitzsimons.
Having taken the point, Northampton now move on, with Nolan’s side next facing an EFL Trophy match against Walsall before resuming their league campaign at home to Rotherham United next weekend.
