25 September 2021

Liam Manning coy on crucial decision as MK Dons beat Wycombe

25 September 2021

MK Dons manager Liam Manning declined to comment on the penalty and red card that helped his side beat Wycombe 1-0 in League One.

Troy Parrott’s spot-kick in the 40th minute, after he was brought down in the box and Wanderers centre-half Anthony Stewart was sent off, proved decisive.

With the man advantage, the Dons went on to see out the remainder of the game for their fifth win in seven matches to sit third in the table.

Manning admitted he had yet to see a replay of the key incident.

“I’m going to opt out on the red card decision I’m afraid,” he said. “I genuinely haven’t seen it back yet, so until I see it I don’t really want to comment further.”

Manning hailed his side’s intensity after what remained a hard-fought game even with the numerical imbalance.

He said: “Credit to Wycombe, even with 10 men they caused us problems, but our match intensity was brilliant and I thought we deserved to win.

“They’ve been on a really good run but ultimately it was about us focusing on ourselves and how we’d combat the problems they would bring.

“We’ve worked really hard in training all week to get ready and ultimately it’s about building on all the good things we’ve done so far this season.

“That doesn’t change regardless of who we are playing, in terms of our approach and what’s going to be required to win football matches.”

The result leaves Wycombe sixth, with Gareth Ainsworth’s men having enjoyed a strong start to life back in League One.

And the Wanderers boss was proud with how his side performed despite being down to 10 men.

“I’m gutted, a few things just didn’t go for us today,” said Ainsworth.

“In my opinion I think Anthony has made a genuine attempt to win the ball, but you don’t always get the decisions.

“I’m really pleased and proud of the lads, though, because they didn’t put us to bed even when we were down to 10.

“I’m so proud of the performance and the way we played overall.

“We were under the cosh a bit in the second half, but that was to be expected when you’re a man light.

“It looked as though there might have been something there for us on a couple of occasions, but it’s over now and we’ll see them back at our place.”

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