Brady frustrated by refereeing mistake for Dons' winner but accepts Cobblers must improve their 'game management'

Jon Brady was frustrated by a refereeing error in the build-up to MK Dons' winning goal on Saturday, but Town's caretaker boss also accepted his side must improve their 'game management' to close out matches in the future.

Video footage appears to show the ball was moving when MK Dons took the quick free-kick which led to Charlie Brown's winning goal just two minutes from time.

"I went to see the referee first and foremost after the game," Brady said. "I spoke to the referee because it was a rolling ball for the fourth goal. They took it quickly and they're off.

"He didn't spot it. Yes, we should have defended it better but I asked him and he said he didn't see it. Well, on the video, you can see him watching that ball roll down the player's shin and then they're away.

"But it's game management. Anyone knows, you stand on the ball. But we didn't so it's simple things - and those simple things are sometimes the most effective things."

After going to see the referee, Brady then spoke with his own players about how to see games out after they conceded twice in five minutes to let slip a 3-2 lead.

He added: "I went in there afterwards and talked to them about understanding the control of the game and understanding the tempo of the game, but I don't want them to go away from the process and the gameplan that we worked on.

"There needs to be more communication because what happens is that we get carried away and we decide to go gung-ho and 'here we go, we're getting joy' and we're off and away. We were too open and that was the biggest problem because we got picked off.

"What happened right near the end was that we got excited and players went and did what they wanted to do and they didn't stick to the gameplan and we didn't close off the spaces like we should have.

"I said to them afterwards that they have to learn from it. We hadn't been in that position for a while and those moments in the game are crucial, but we will learn."

Prior to Saturday, Cobblers had not led in any game since Gillingham in December and Brady believes that contributed to their downfall in the closing stages.

He continued: "I asked them and it was before New Year's Day when they last led in a game - that's nearly two months ago. It's just about understanding those moments in the game and now we will be in winning positions a lot more now if we play that way.

"When you're a team, you need your team-mates around you to grab hold of you and keep you in check and that's where we need to be better overall.

"We're not blaming the individual, we're looking at the whole team because they only left those spaces through sheer enthusiasm. By doing that, they got carried away in the moment so we've got to understand and be better with our game management.

"It's something we talked about and we'll believe we will be better at that now going forward. We have to control the game and I feel the players have taken that on-board. We had a good debrief and I feel the message is loud and clear."