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Robinson upbeat despite defeat

Image: Karl Robinson: Proud of his players

MK Dons manager Karl Robinson believes his team finally "woke up the town of Milton Keynes" despite a 2-1 defeat to Coventry.

The Sky Blues had not managed a league win at the Ricoh Arena since October and that record cost sacked manager Steven Pressley his job on Monday. But first-half goals from Chris Stokes and Dominic Samuel set Coventry on their way and even after Daniel Powell had pulled one back in the second half, the home team - guided by Pressley's best friend and assistant manager Neil MacFarlane - hung on. The visitors, in front of 1,689 travelling supporters, did everything but score an equaliser as home goalkeeper Lee Burge and his back four repelled wave after wave of MK Dons attacks. Robinson said: "We had the chances. I am so proud of the players and the fans - they were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. "If we play that every week, we go up. There were errors for their goals, but I don't think they have had another shot after their second goal. "There are a number of players who could have scored for us, but I've said to the lads in there that winners accept defeats like that can happen and we know what we have to do to turn it around. "We are still in the automatic places, so it's still in our hands. "I am just so, so proud of the football club. I said to the players before the game that we had woken Milton Keynes up and not to let them go back to sleep again. "I don't think they will be after that performance even though the result wasn't the one we wanted." MacFarlane, who joined City with Pressley nearly two years ago, dedicated the victory to the former Hearts and Rangers defender as Coventry climbed out of the bottom four. He said: "It's a massive three points for the football club and that one was for the gaffer. "We rode our luck and got the breaks at the right time - that's what we have been craving as a partnership over many, many months. "We had seen an upturn in performances in recent weeks in terms of the work ethic and we saw that in this. "To a man, they threw themselves in front of every ball. They worked tirelessly right to the very end and they gave their all for this football club. "MK Dons are a very good team and we had our backs to the wall for the whole second half, but I couldn't have asked any more of them. "They went into every challenge like it was their last and it is a very big win for us because it moves us out of the bottom four."

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