Eyre: We made it easy for MK Dons

THERE was no respite for under-fire Rochdale boss Steve Eyre as his side fell to a 3-1 loss at MK Dons in npower League One.

With Neal Trotman shipped out to Chesterfield last week, quickly followed by struggling goalkeeper Jake Kean — recalled by Blackburn Rovers after a poor run of confidence-sapping form at Spotland — Eyre’s backline included Dean Holden and Stephen Jordan, both making their full debuts for the club.

But they were unable to improve Dale’s dire defensive record as Eyre’s men fell to their ninth defeat of the campaign, a result which kept them down among League One’s relegation places.

The visitors got off to a promising start when Brian Barry-Murphy’s free-kick evaded a packed penalty area and floated into the top corner of David Martin’s net.

But an unstoppable 30-yard rocket from Adam Smith prompted Dale’s collapse and was quickly followed by Charlie MacDonald’s neat finish from Daniel Powell’s delivery.

Mark Beevers scored the third after 31 minutes to all but wrap up the result, and while Dale were more solid after the break, Karl Robinson’s men did not have to work too hard to see the game out.

“We’re disappointed with the result, less so with the performance,” said Eyre. “We have good players and character but we are being handicapped by the goals we are conceding.

“We wanted to be cautious with our start and had the bonus of scoring the opener. It was never going to be easy coming to MK Dons, but when we look at their goals it was a case of the opposition not having to work too hard to score and that’s very disappointing.

“Striker Ashley Grimes was exposed at times.

“Brian’s goal was meant, we work on getting them on target. Once that goes in we need better ball retention but MK Dons spread us in the forward play and that left gaps.”

MK Dons: Martin, Smith, Lewington, Beevers, Gleeson, Potter, MacDonald (Balanta, 84), Flanagan, Powell, Ibehre (Williams, 89), Chadwick (Bowditch, 75). Subs not used: McLoughlin, Mackenzie

Rochdale: Lucas, Jordan, Holness, Holden, Darby, Jones, Tutte (Eccleston, 79), Barry-Murphy, Kennedy (Akpa-Akpro, 63), Adams (Bunn, 74), Grimes. Subs not used: Edwards, Gray

Att: 7,120. Referee: A Woolmer