Three points were all that mattered to Tisdale in win over Oldham

Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2019 by PA

Paul Tisdale admitted that all he cared about were the precious commodity of three points after MK Dons held on to beat Oldham 2-1 at Stadium MK.

The Dons saw the game out despite late Latics pressure as penalties from Chuks Aneke and Kieran Agard proved to be enough.

The win leaves Tisdale’s side just three points off the automatic promotion places in League Two, and the 46-year-old was delighted to put a difficult January behind him.

“We needed that win and we move on very quickly, it wasn’t the best game but a really important win for the players, the staff and the fans,” he said.

“In the last game or two we had lost a bit of our rhythm and sometimes you need a game like that to get it going again, so it was pleasing to see a response tonight.

“I think it will do us the world of good; we are not going to over-dissect that particular performance, but we got it over the line.

“At times we have tried too hard in other games, but today we took a big breath and I’m delighted that we hung on – I didn’t really care how we won.

“I’ve been here before and I know what happens when you have a sticky month, and I know how to bounce back and it’s about having confidence in each other.”

The hosts took the lead 14 minutes in when Aneke grabbed his 12th of the league season from the spot.

Oldham spurned chances to level, with Urko Vera seeing two gilt-edged opportunities denied, and they were punished when the Dons grabbed a second penalty through Agard.

Tom Hamer’s smart finish gave the visitors hope, but defeat means that the Latics are still searching for their first league win since January 1.

And Oldham caretaker manager Pete Wild was left dismayed with his side’s lack of discipline as they lost their third on the spin in all competitions.

“We started very poorly in the first 15 minutes; we gave the penalty away and then it was always going to be an uphill struggle from there,” he said.

“I was frustrated with their first penalty because it was never a free-kick in the build-up, which the referee gave – I told him what I thought of that at full-time.

“We lacked any real conviction in the box all night and if people had been a little braver we may have ended up with a point, which is what we deserved, I thought.

“I’ve got my own opinions on why things haven’t been going well of late, but we need to gain a little more confidence and be more ruthless inside the box.”