Dan Micciche praises MK Dons’ character after team edge out Bury
MK Dons manager Dan Micciche praised his team for grinding out the result as they saw off fellow strugglers Bury at stadium:mk.
The Dons boss spoke to the media after his team edged out Bury 2-1, with a pair of Chuks Aneke penalties proving decisive.
Micciche gave credit to Bury, but felt his team delivered the necessary tactical and mental performance to do enough to see off tricky opposition.
He said, “Its a massive three points for us. I must give credit to Bury as they made it tough for us, and they’re a good side with good players. We had to show a different side to us today, and we had to show character, tactical discipline, and having to take chances when they came. Chuks has done that for us today.
“I felt we had a good shape to our team, and it was just a case of whether something would fall for them rather than them opening us up. Thankfully, it didn’t.”
The Dons manager also praised the work ethic of his team’s goalscorer, with Micciche praising Aneke for his effort in honing his set-piece skills, and voicing his delight at his rewards.
He said, “Its good education for any young player that practice makes perfect, and he practices his free-kicks and penalties every single day off his own back, and with dedication to his craft. I’m really pleased that he got his rewards today.”
Micciche acknowledged that there were some flaws in the performance, but underlined the importance of picking up three points and praised the team for picking up the crucial results.
He said, “We knew at some point, things were going to start going for us and we couldn’t continue the bad luck we were having. Our performances in these last two games haven’t been perfect, but we’ve done enough to win the games and that’s all that matters.
“Its an old cliché but a week is a long time in football, and its my job as leader of the football team to stay positive and stay real. We’ve been honest with the players about the performance, but we’ve grinded it out and its something you have to do at some stage.”
With Robbie Muirhead and Callum Brittain set to miss Saturday’s match against Blackpool through international call-ups, Micciche said he would look at alternatives to cope with their absence.
But he also praised the effort shown by his team in bouncing back to pick up two important wins and climb to within a point of safety. He also called on his team to maintain focus ahead of the rest of the season.
He said, “We’ll have to look at it from Monday as we’ll have to chop and change things for Blackpool, but for now the players deserve to enjoy this result. Its been a monumentous effort from everyone this week. Since the Bristol Rovers game here two weeks ago, we could’ve collapsed, and then came the trip to Bradford when we went up there for a game that was off that we were desperate to play.
“This week, we’ve won two big games. I think everybody has pulled together this week, and I feel the support and that we’re together. But we know we’ve still got massive cup finals to come and no one is getting carried away at all.”