MK Dons were beaten in their only home pre-season friendly as two late goals saw them lose 2-1 to Peterborough United.
Aaron Collins gave MK Dons the lead in the first half, with the hosts still in front as the game approached the final stages.
But two goals in six minutes turned the game against the Dons’, with Chris Conn-Clarke’s equaliser followed by an Archie Collins strike to put Posh ahead.
It meant defeat for MK Dons in their sole home pre-season friendly, despite having lead for much of the contest against their League One opponents.
Having seen Dons sides beaten by Doncaster Rovers and Wealdstone in parallel friendlies on Saturday, the Dons’ attention turned to their only home pre-season friendly of the 2025 summer season.
That test had originally been scheduled to be against Bristol City, but after the Championship side pulled out, they instead took on the reigning EFL Trophy winners Peterborough.
Summer signings Gethin Jones, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Aaron Collins and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy all made their home debuts as a new look side looked to prepare for their first full season under boss Paul Warne, who took over as the Dons’ Head Coach back in April.
The best chance in the early stages for either side was wafted into the stands by Joe Tomlinson as the former Peterborough man fired wide from a half-cleared free-kick.
But MK Dons would take the lead through a combination of two of their new recruits. Mendez-Laing, once of Peterborough, picked up the ball down the Dons’ right and his cross found Collins, whose header beat Alex Bass to open the scoring for the hosts.
The hosts had further opportunities, with Alex Gilbey having a shot blocked and Bass holding onto an angled header by Luke Offord.
But things weren’t smooth sailing for the hosts. Already missing Nathan Thompson and Laurence Maguire to injury, the Dons suffered another defensive injury blow as Sam Sherring pulled up while chasing a long ball down the host’s right flank and was forced to leave the pitch.
Peterborough took time to have their first major attack, but what they produced nearly paid dividends. Decent set-up work by Cian Hayes released Donnay O’Brien-Brady, whose shot beat home goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray only to bounce off the bar.
Each side exchanged an opportunity near the end of the half, with Bass keeping out Hepburn-Murphy before Lucca Mendonca had a looping header seep over the top at a Peterborough corner.
MacGillivray made a fine stop to keep out a Peterborough chance just after the break, while the Dons’ best chance after the break saw a lofted cross-shot by Collins bounce across goal and out.
Peterborough had opted to make 9 changes at half-time, retaining just goalkeeper Bass and midfielder Kyrell Lisbie, the latter of whom took his leave after the hour mark. At the same time as that change, MK Dons opted to make a further 5 alterations.
Shortly before taking his leave, MacGillivray made a flying stop to deny a goalbound strike by Declan Frith, while Jonathan Leko poked a strike wide shortly after coming off the bench for the hosts.
A disjointed second half looked to be heading for a conclusion with no goals. But with 8 minutes of the second half to play, Peterborough levelled. Set-up work by Frith and Jamie Dornelly ended up with the ball being squared to Conn-Clarke, who rifled a strike past substitute home keeper Connal Trueman.
Things duly got worse for the hosts, as Peterborough scored a second goal in six minutes to take the lead. A free-kick routine picked out Archie Collins, whose fine strike from range found the bottom corner.
MK Dons were unable to respond, as they were beaten in their sole home friendly before the big kick-off.
Warne’s side wrap up their pre-season commitments on Saturday when they travel to League One outfit Stevenage, before kicking off the 2025/26 season proper on Saturday August 2nd when they welcome Oldham Athletic to Stadium MK.
MK Dons: MacGillivray (Trueman 71) – Jones (Tripp 61), Sherring (Waller 25), Offord (Troso 75), Tomlinson (Sinclair-Linton 75) – Kelly (Lemonheigh-Evans 61), Thompson-Sommers (Lewis-Burgess 75) – Mendez-Laing (Nemane 45), Gilbey (Collar 61), Hepburn-Murphy (Leko 61) – Collins (Hendry 61)
Goal: Collins (16)