Robby's reaction: Three points the main thing
Roberto Di Matteo
By Oli
March 15 2009
Dons manager Roberto Di Matteo was pleased with the Dons performance in their 6-2 thrashing of Oldham but maintained that the result, not the scoreline, was the most important thing. A brace from Sam Baldock helped the Dons to victory, despite MK twice trailing in the first half.
Baldock's double came after Aaron Wilbraham and Jason Puncheon had each replied to goals from Oldham's Kevin Maher and Lee Hughes. Alan Navarro and Ali Gerba added a gloss to a scoreline that didn't look totally unjustified as the Dons secured a superb victory.
Question: "We certainly haven't seen that type of entertainment, goals-wise, for a while, but a disappointing start; and if you hadn't gone on to win it, you might have had one or two questions for the referee?"
Roberto: "I didn't think it was a foul when they scored from the free-kick; we defended well, and he must have been the only one in the stadium who saw a foul there, to be honest. They scored a great free-kick, and there's nothing you can do about that.
Q: "You came back, with Aaron Wilbraham on the scoresheet yet again, only to go 1-2 down, and again, your team showed great character."
R: "Yes, and we've been playing well. If a team creates chances, it means a team is healthy, but obviously you've got to take those chances and today we took quite a few of those."
Q: "Was there anything said at half-time though? Although it was a good first half performance, in the second [half] there was only going to be one winner."
R: "I thought for the whole game, we played well. In the second half we scored two goals early on, which gave us a bit more confidence, and then we just kept playing our game; passing the ball, creating chances and we took some more chances and got goals."
Q: "Do you feel that today the only real difference was that you took the chances, rather than maybe missing one or two as you have done in previous weeks?"
R: "Well we still missed a few, in the first half I thought we were a bit unlucky; we hit the post, [Luke] Chadwick's shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Peter Leven's just before half-time as well was a great save by the 'keeper. We had plenty of chances in the first half too."
Q: "Sam Baldock scored on Tuesday and he's gained confidence from that with another couple of goals today, Alan Navarro's got his first of the season, Jason Puncheon's scored; there's little confidence boosts from a goalscoring point of view, Ali Gerba scored as well; this can only boost their confidence at a vital time."
R: "It's for the whole team, to be honest, not just the players who scored; let's not forget that there's people who defend; it's just good that we got this win, it was about time. We've played well lately, we created our chances, scored a few goals, but were very hard done by by deflected goals, corners, or great free-kicks, stuff like that so the team was up for a good win."
Q: "Did you feel it was only a matter of time before you didn't just win, but you won well, like you have done today?"
R: "We just look for a win. It doesn't matter if you score four, five, or one, what's important is that you win the game."
Q: "Did it help that Oldham came with two up front? That's not something we've seen from visiting teams often here; they actually came to win the game, and that opened up some gaps for you at the back."
R: "I'm not sure if that helps, perhaps when our team plays so well that's very good. We've just said to the players, just keep playing well, and then the results will just be a consequence of that."
Roberto was speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio.
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