Paul Warne hails ‘pretty perfect day’ as five-star MK Dons thrash Cheltenham

Paul Warne hailed a “pretty perfect day” as his MK Dons side beat Cheltenham 5-0 in Sky Bet League Two.

Jack Sanders headed the Dons in front from a ninth-minute corner, with the hosts doubling their lead through Alex Gilbey’s curled strike six minutes later.

Callum Paterson struck after Joe Day could not hold Liam Kelly’s free-kick, giving MK a 3-0 lead after 25 minutes.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy scored his first Dons goal in the 60th minute after finishing from Paterson’s pass, before Aaron Nemane scored in the 80th minute from a deflected cross to complete the rout.

Warne said he was delighted to collect another clean sheet and see his side deliver an attacking display he considered closer to his ideal tactical blueprint.

He said: “It’s really pleasing. Another clean sheet, which was always a fear that the longer the game went on that if they get a chance and score, we’d be disappointed if we lost our clean-sheet record today.

“We just moved the ball forward really quickly and made really positive passes forward to create chances.

“It looks a little more like my team as we’ve got pace in it. I always want to try and play forward, put crosses in, get touches in the penalty box and shots. That’s how I want to play and how I think the modern game should be played.

“We’ve got a really good athletic group and, in the way the scoreline went, I had full trust in my bench so could make changes and give players a rest to go again. It was a pretty perfect day – no injuries, no issues and players coming back.”

Cheltenham remain without a goal or point in League Two after three games, and their boss Michael Flynn accepted their latest display was not good enough.

He said: “We shot ourselves in the foot big time today. They’ve got so many good players and they don’t need any help, and like we did second half against Chesterfield, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.

“It needs to be better. Today was really poor. It was poor against a good MK Dons team. I’m not taking anything away from them and we’ve got to show respect, but we were so poor and looked flat.

“We were so much better on Wednesday night. But we just haven’t started in the league and haven’t got going for one reason or another. That’s down to me to work it out.

“I’m disappointed and feel for the fans. I made sure all the players went over and clapped them – it wasn’t a thank you, more of an apology. But we’ve got to stick together and if we do, and when we do, we’ll start improving.”