MK Dons boss Paul Warne was left disappointed and feeling that his side had dropped two points late on as they drew 2-2 with Chesterfield.

Callum Paterson and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy had scored the goals that had given the Dons a 2-0 half-time lead, but second half strikes by Sam Curtis and Will Grigg saw Chesterfield swipe a point at Stadium MK, with Grigg’s equaliser coming right at the end of stoppage time.

A disappointed Warne told the media afterwards that he felt the team had should’ve seen the game out.

He said, “Hugely disappointed. I did feel like it was two points dropped.

“I thought we were really good and that its the best 45 minutes at home. I really liked the way we played, we created chances, scored two good goals, could’ve had more, then second half, they make changes and throw more bodies at the top of the pitch.

“I thought we answered most of the questions really well but concede off two set-pieces, which isn’t like us. First one, we don’t attack the ball round the back and it looks like we’re trying to shield it, which is disappointing.

“Then late on, I thought politely that they were running out of ideas, which isn’t disrespectful – we defended really well and I don’t think Craig (MacGillivray) made any saves in the last 10-15 minutes. But we jump out of line, give away a foul, they put the free-kick in, we don’t get first contact, they win a corner and we don’t win first contact on that. Without sounding like a broken record, if you don’t win first contacts off set-pieces, you’re always vulnerable to conceding. Unfortunately, we were today and that’s really disappointing.”

With ten of League Two’s games postponed due to cold weather, including all of the games involving the teams around MK Dons in the table, Warne said he felt the team missed an opportunity to take advantage and move into League Two’s automatic promotion places.

He said, “We’ve dropped two points. We could’ve gone into third with only us playing and with an FA Cup game to look forward to next week, and its disappointing to say the least. I think I can speak for everyone in the dressing room that they gave everything physically but in the most important moment, we let ourselves down.”

Warne also voiced a disappointment that the Dons had dropped 3 points in stoppage time in their last two games, having conceded a late goal to lose at Colchester in their previous match.

He said, “I wanted 8 points, minimum, and we’ve got 5. We would’ve had 7. In fairness, from a performance point of view, I don’t think there was anything in the game at Colchester. It’s ifs and buts, but if we didn’t concede there and won today, we would’ve had 8 and I would’ve been happy, but games are judged by goals and we concede two late goals in both games. Both of them are stoppable.

“It feels like a wasted opportunity because I think our performances deserved more than what we’ve got, but at the end of the season, people don’t say that you’ve finished 5th but deserved third or top. You don’t get it like that. We need to be harder to beat. Overall, I’m disappointed as I think we should’ve accrued more points and that lays at my feet, no one else’s.”

Ahead of the FA Cup tie against Oxford United later this week, Warne said he was hoping to welcome new faces to Stadium MK in time for that contest.

He said, “I spoke to 2 players yesterday and 2 the day before. I’d like to think that by the time we come back in, I’ll have 1 or 2 new faces. But this group’s an excellent group. It does need help and it does need an injection of new personalities and faces.

“We want to sign new players that will improve us for now and going forward. A lot of work has gone into trying to convince these players to come and hopefully, by the time we play Oxford, I’ll have one or two new faces to select from.

“We have a type that we like and have already earmarked 3/4 players who we think will have a positive effect on us. If we can get them in, well happy, but I do know the players I’m after, other teams are after because they’re good players. We have to be realistic but I do believe we’ll have new faces in soon.”