MK Dons manager Russell Martin was disappointed his side could not turn their dominance of possession into goals during their 0-0 draw at Northampton

The Dons finished with around 70 per cent of the ball but failed to create a single clear-cut chance, with home goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell forced into just one save across the 90 minutes.

Martin said: “I felt like we were in control of the game for pretty much all of it and I’m really proud of the players for how they defended the box and for how little we gave them away from home on a tough pitch.

“There are a few things I’m disappointed about, especially in the final third because we completely dominated in their half and they only got close to us from set-pieces.

“The lads defended brilliantly but on the whole I’m really pleased. I would have liked to have created more, for sure, but it’s really tough with the way they play.

“Overall, I’m really pleased with that performance and that makes it a good week for us because we’re now unbeaten in three games and I think we’ve come a long way in terms of our defensive mentality and the tempo of the team.

“We’ve been really aggressive with the ball in the last few games and the way we move up the pitch with it so I’m delighted with the players. It’s momentum and it’s something for us to build on.”

Northampton manager Keith Curle was pleased with the defensive doggedness of his players as they kept their first league clean sheet of the campaign.

He said: “I think it was a disciplined performance. They know how they want to play and we needed to be disciplined against them.

“We’ve only really had one day of coaching to implement the defensive shape but I think it’s credit to the players and testament to them in terms of how they took on board the information.

“They got their rewards by nullifying them to one shot on target which came in the first half. We stopped them getting behind us and we stopped them putting crosses into our box and I thought we frustrated them.

“We broke on them very well in the first half but we didn’t have that little bit of magic and that bit of quality to find the final pass, but we take the positive out of it because it was a disciplined performance that was needed.

“If you go ragged and if you go chasing the ball in the wrong areas, they will pick you off.”