MK Dons 0-1 Wolves

Wolves first visit to Stadium:MK was a successful one, Liam McAlinden's first league goal for the club securing three points in front of nearly 9,000 Wolves fans.

- Kenny Jackett made two changes to the team that beat Colchester United on Tuesday night, with Jack Price and Nouha Dicko returning as Leon Clarke and Lee Evans dropped to the bench. I assume Bakary Sako would also have returned to the team had he not been injured with a foot injury. I don't quite understand the logic behind making only one, enforced change between Saturday and Tuesday games (two days rest), and then making two changes between Tuesday and Saturday games (three days rest). I realise that any changes might be purely tactical but for example Tuesday would have been the perfect night for Nouha Dicko, given Colchester's high defensive line. 

- The first half was very scrappy, with neither team really able to get a firm grip on the game. MK Dons played a 4-4-1-1 formation that allowed them to press our defenders quite high when we had the ball. This was very effective in stopping us from building attacks before they had begun. There were plenty of times when Scott Golbourne and Richard Stearman were passing the ball between them, 10 yards from our goal-line without an out ball, thanks to MK Dons' high press. 

- MK Dons' high pressing stopped us from playing out from the back, resulting in too many long balls being fired in to Nouha Dicko. I think he won about one all day - this isn't a criticism of Dicko, he's not the sort of striker who I would expect to dominate in the air. But, when we played balls for him to chase, I thought he looked disinterested. Early on, I think there was a distinct attempt to get Dicko in behind MK Dons' defence; Kevin McDonald played a few long balls into the channels for Dicko to chase. But this didn't really work, those types of aimless passes aren't McDonald's forte, and Dicko seemed to be slow off the mark meaning that each of these passes effectively just gave possession back to MK Dons. 

- While MK Dons' tactics stopped us playing, I didn't the starting XI quite worked. Michael Jacobs played nominally on the left, but really played anywhere but there. This left us quite narrow on that flank, with all of the width provided by Scott Golbourne, who is an Ashley Cole type attacking fullback, rather than a Leighton Baines – he’s reliant on other players in the team to put him into positions, rather than create them for himself. The other issue with the selection was David Edwards. Edwards thrives when he can break from deep; his best performances this season have come when he has played alongside Lee Evans, ahead of Kevin McDonald. In this system, both Evans and Edwards are able to run from deep, almost taking it in turns to go forward. Today, Edwards was ahead of McDonald and Jack Price, and there was far more pressure on him to be the attacking threat as neither McDonald nor Price will contribute a huge amount here. But, this isn't Edwards strength and he spent far too much time effectively upfront with Dicko, but without every combining. I did wonder whether Evans might have been the better option here. When Evans has played in this role, he has linked well with Jacobs, moving into the wide left spaces that Jacobs vacated. I felt that this might have offered the side a little more balance, rather than the lopsided system we played. 

- The game itself was poor, but Wolves were probably deserving victors. There was very little in goalmouth action, with Carl Ikeme barely breaking into a sweat aside from a comfortable save from a well-struck free kick. Michael Jacobs was probably the player who looked most like scoring, sending two early efforts wide from outside the area. Possibly the best Wolves chance came when Antony Kay gave the ball away to James Henry, leaving us with a three-on-one situation. Henry squared the ball to Dicko, but the pass was slightly behind the French striker, and so he helped it on to Jacobs. With defenders getting back, Jacobs turned in the area, but sent a weak shot straight at goalkeeper David Martin. Moments later, Danny Batth strode forward from the back, overran the ball, but did well to turn his tackle into an excellent pass into Dicko, just outside the MK Dons penalty box. Dicko managed to get into the area, and his rising drive was tipped over by Martin. 

- With Wolves clearly going for the win, Kenny Jackett (wearing a suit today) made an interesting change, taking off Jack Price, who didn't have his best game, and Dicko. On came Leon Clarke and Liam McAlinden, with Clarke playing just behind McAlinden. Dave Edwards dropped back into a more orthodox central midfield position as we moved to a 4-4-2 formation. Edwards had far more of a positive impact on the game in central midfield, primarily as he was able to collect the ball deeper and turn and run. Upfront, Clarke and McAlinden linked up reasonably well, providing possibly the most natural striking partnership we've seen this season. They play with quite different styles; Clarke being taller, right-footed and more happy to drop off whereas McAlinden is quicker, left-footed and prepared to run in behind. I'm not saying they are the new Suárez and Sturridge, but I think there was potential there. 

- The game arguably hinged on a five-minute spell deep into the second half. Substitute Sanmi Odelusi was closing down Scott Golbourne in the Wolves left back spot, but Golbourne just managed to nick the ball away to Michael Jacobs before being caught by Odelusi. Jacobs turned, clear down the left wing with the MK Dons' right back committed, only to be furious when the referee didn't give the advantage. Odelusi was shown the yellow card. Just a few minutes later, Golbourne and Odelusi again came together, Golbourne reaching a loose ball marginally first. Odelusi flew into a tackle, took the ball (but after Golbourne did), but clattered the Wolves left back. To collect two yellow cards in a matter of minutes was absolutely stupid and MK Dons were facing the final ten minutes with 10 men. James Henry (I think) swung the resultant free kick into the penalty area, leading to a scramble in the penalty area, with Liam McAlinden's effort blocked to the right hand side of the penalty area. Kevin McDonald picked it up, and floated an out swinging cross that was expertly met by McAlinden, with his flicked header nestling in the far post. 

- Unfortunately, I'm missing the next three games (can't get to Stevenage on Tuesday, then I'm in China for the Peterborough and Crewe matches), so the next report will be Rotherham on Good Friday.