Scott Lindsey Defends MK Dons Players Amid Fan Criticism

MK Dons manager Scott Lindsey has addressed fan chants of ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ directed at his team, following their FA Cup loss to arch-rivals AFC Wimbledon. The Dons conceded two goals, one before and one after half-time, and failed to score, resulting in a 2-0 defeat. This marked their second loss to Wimbledon this season, having previously been defeated 3-0 at Plough Lane in September, prior to Lindsey’s appointment. “I want the fans to come for me, not the players. I don’t want to hear that because they are fit to wear the shirt – they just won three league games on the bounce,” he told BBC Three Counties Radio. He continued, “I think of the last 10 games, we’ve won five, that’s a 50% win ratio, so they are fit to wear the shirt – please don’t say that, don’t sing that.” Lindsey added, “The players are working extremely hard and we will get it right, we just need to all be connected and recognise that we can only get to where we want to get to if we’re all together.” Last season, Lindsey guided Crawley to promotion from League Two, overcoming the Dons 8-1 on aggregate during their successful play-off campaign. However, he chose to move down a division to Stadium: MK, having described the Dons as “the biggest club in the division” earlier this month. The disappointment of the Wimbledon defeat was compounded by the second-half sending-off of Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, and Lindsey expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s defending for both goals. He commented, “They’re very good at what they do, they were good at the dark arts of the game. They took their time after they were 2-0 up and the referee kind of allowed that to happen.” Lindsey further stated, “We’re League Two, we’re going to (have to) defend against direct balls every game and if we can’t do that better, we’re not going to get to where we need to get to.” He took responsibility, saying, “It’s my fault, I need to do more work with them.” Lindsey will be looking for an immediate positive reaction from his players when they return to league action at home against his former club, Swindon Town, on Saturday. He concluded, “The boys have done fantastic since I’ve been here and we’ve got to stay with them.”