Graham Alexander hit out at his MK Dons side for a lack of commitment in the first half of their 2-1 home defeat to Stockport.
Former Dons player Louie Barry scored his fifth goal of the season for the visitors before the home side equalised through Mo Eisa.
Stockport went back in front on the stroke of half-time though through Nick Powell and this time there was no way back for the hosts.
Alexander said: “The first half cost us. There was no intensity, no speed or no commitment to what we’ve been doing of late.
“We can’t lie to anybody and think we deserved anything from that game today.
“The way we started was really slow, took too many touches and delayed everything.
“If you don’t commit as hard as you have to in professional football, you get beat.
“The game was there for us as a team after last week’s performance, but we just didn’t get going in the first half.
“In the second half, there was an increase in intensity, but we didn’t trouble the goalkeeper or their goal enough to get anything from the game. The right team won today.
“I’m raw because I’m frustrated that a group of players who have done so well so far this season have not got anywhere near the levels we have done in previous games.”
Stockport manager Dave Challinor praised his players as built on their 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon.
The two wins have followed a sticky start to the season, leaving Challinor delighted with the way his side have bounced back.
“We should take more confidence from the fact of how we went about it,” said Challinor
“Two big wins, especially on the back of what we’d had previously and especially on the back of being a little bit scarred, I suppose, by some of the games earlier on.
“To get those confidence-boosting wins like we have is massively important going into a massive game next week.
“The easiest thing for us today would be potentially to have gone 3-5-2 to match the systems and it becomes who’s better at the system. But we thought we can tweak the system in terms of pushing Powell higher up to become a 4-3-3.
“I’d like to think we can be adaptable. We’ve got the personnel to play as a four and as a three, but it’s ultimately about winning football matches and we’ve won the last two in fractionally different types of that formation, asking different questions of the opposition.”
Dream debut: Dixon shines with goal, assist on debut for Charlton U21s in 3-2 win over Watford
Reggae Boy Kaheim Dixon was on the scoresheet in his debut for Charlton Athletic U21s in a 3-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road on Friday.
Charlton took the lead after just two minutes through a goal from Henry Rylah before Watford got their equalizer through Mamadou Doumbia a minute later.
The 19-year-old Dixon, who joined the League One club from Arnett Gardens in August, then capitalized from a defensive mistake by Watford to put his team up 2-1.
Charlton then went two goals clear thanks to Mile Leaburn, who was assisted by Dixon.
Doumbia got his second goal of the game to finish the scoring at 3-2.
Charlton U21s now have 19 points in seven games in the Professional Development League.
The win strengthens lead atop the table to six points.
They will next take on Brentford U21s on October 1.
Alcaraz beaten on Laver Cup debut with Zverev in doubles
Carlos Alcaraz suffered defeat on his Laver Cup debut, as he was beaten in straight sets alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles by Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Team Europe put up a strong fight but struggled to match Fritz and Shelton, who won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev made a slow start to the match, losing their serve in the fourth game as the Americans went on a three-game winning streak, but they pulled it back to level the tie, only to lose the tie-break.
Team Europe looked to have found their groove in the second set but failed to convert four break points in the fourth game as Fritz and Shelton levelled the score at 2-2.
A three-game winning run at the end of the set, including one more break, was enough to get Team World over the line, pulling them back to 2-2 at the end of day one.
Francisco Cerundolo had originally given Team World the lead with a shock win over Casper Ruud before Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov's wins had put Team Europe 2-1 up.
Walter proud of 'courageous' Hull after comeback win
Tim Walter says he is proud of his "courageous" Hull City side after earning his first win in charge, beating Stoke City 3-1.
Narcis Pelach led the Potters out for the first time on Friday and saw his side take a 1-0 lead through Ben Wilmot into half-time.
However, Hull came out fighting in the second half to claim three points for the first time this season.
Kasey Palmer saw a penalty saved just after the hour mark but turned in the rebound before goals from Regan Slater and an own goal from Wilmot completed their late turnaround.
It is a win that propels the Tigers from 19th to 13th in the Championship, above Stoke, and Walter believes it has been a long time coming.
"It's hard to describe because I never had this feeling before. I've never not had a win in five games, so for me, it's a new situation," Walter told Sky Sports.
"But I also knew the whole time that we can win. Today we did it and that's the reason I'm really proud of my boys. They deserved to win.
"I'm happy because they always believed they can win and that's important.
"After conceding the goal, we were better. We were more courageous. We showed more bravery and that's the key to the result."
Pelach succeeded Steven Schumacher as Stoke's manager following his shock sacking earlier this week, having won two of the five matches under the Englishman at the start of the season.
Stoke managed 14 shots against Hull, but only two efforts on target, with both of those coming in the first 45 minutes.
Despite starting with a defeat, Pelach is looking for the positives after such a short time with the squad.
"It's a pity we couldn't win the game," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We wanted to take the points, but I think the lads tried to put a new style of play in place.
"But in the second half, we lost control and ran out of energy. We should have pressed more, but we will try to explain this tomorrow and keep working on the defensive style.
"There is some things to work on mentally and we will do it. We will take the positives, and we will improve."
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