Beleaguered Forest Green boss David Horseman said “everyone has got to do better” as their poor run continued with a 2-0 defeat at MK Dons.
First-half goals from Max Dean and Jack Payne made the difference at Stadium MK to keep Rovers in the bottom two, five points from safety, following a fifth league match without a win.
They have not scored in the last three of those and Horseman knows the tide must turn if they are to avoid a second successive relegation.
“We’ll keep working with it and keep going,” he said. “That’s the only choice.
“But sometimes you have to look at winning and you have to say that me, them, everyone has got to do better.
“It hasn’t been good enough. We have got some good players in the dressing room and they do care, but it’s just not quite working at the moment.
“We’re still second from bottom and still five points cut adrift from the next team.
“For all these promising things that we see and that we work on, if you don’t execute it, it means absolutely nothing. That has been our problem since day one.”
Rovers nearly fell behind early on against their in-form hosts when Payne’s free-kick narrowly cleared the bar.
The hosts then opened the scoring as Dean controlled Joe Tomlinson’s cut-back, evaded a defender and fired a shot across Luke Daniels into the bottom corner.
Conor Grant fired wide when well-placed, but the lead was doubled when Tomlinson’s cross picked out Payne, who hit a firm strike into the back of the net.
Troy Deeney and substitute Matty Stevens missed the target with chances either side of the break and Deeney saw another late effort cleared off the line as Dons stretched their unbeaten run to six league matches.
“We had to show different sides of our character, especially in the second half,” said Dons boss Mike Williamson.
“We had to defend well and we showed we were tough to beat. The football we played was, in patches, really pleasing.
“You could see we were playing through what we were trying to achieve and you could see the patterns we’d worked on.
“First half, we got our two goals and second, maybe it was tiredness, but we got into the final third a handful of times and the quality let us down.
“Obviously, the dynamics changed in the second half where they had opportunities to take some more risks and to press us.
“It was a different puzzle and we had to find our way through. I think there were moments where another day, we could’ve got the third and that would have put it to bed.”
Red Bulls win New York derby as Seattle knock out Los Angeles FC
Goals from Felipe Carballo and Dante Vanzeir settled the New York derby as New York Red Bulls defeated New York City 2-0 at the Citi Field to enter the Eastern Conference final of the MLS Cup.
Uruguayan Carballo blasted an effort into the top corner in the 16th minute to give the visitors the breakthrough in the 16th minute before Vanzeir drilled an Emil Forsberg corner in off the post nine minutes later.
City probed for a way back into the game as they enjoyed about 70% of possession and attempted 25 shots. But failing to produce a goal despite an xG of 2.8, the 2021 champions crashed out.
Meanwhile, it was a clinical and well-organised display from the Red Bulls, who generated an xG of 0.88 with nine shots and were happy to sit back and protect their two-goal advantage for the majority of the game.
"It's a big win today, but in the end, it’s the next step. We have to continue this hard work and next week take the next step,” said Red Bulls boss Sandro Schwarz after the game.
Michel delighted with Girona's return to form after injury boosts
Michel puts Girona's rediscovered form down to the energy of the returning players from injury after they thrashed Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
Girona had endured a shaky start to the season but moved up to fifth in the standings on 21 points after a superb home victory featuring a Bojan Miovski brace and goals by Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci.
Michel's side have now won their last three LaLiga matches, going on their best such run since between April and May 2024, the last time they recorded three victories on the bounce.
"Today's victory, which is our third [in a row], it's due to the fact we got people back, because we've rested, because we've had a very good week of training and because that energy today was noticeable," Michel told a press conference.
"The only thing I hope is that we continue to recover people, that we continue to have the necessary minutes for everyone and that, as we have very tough games coming up every three days, we need everyone to be at 100%; we'll see if we can achieve this without any problems."
Yaser Asprilla and Krejci, back from injury, combined for the fourth goal, but it was the pairing of Miovski and Gil who made the night with lethal attacks for the second and third goals.
"I am very happy for Miovski, he is a player who gives everything in training," Michel added. "I was worried because he wasn't scoring goals.
"He always tries to do his best for the team, he needs time. I am happy for him.
"Bryan is a very important player for everyone, his best version is yet to come. Right now, the process with him is what we all expect."
Last season's surprise package Girona face Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday and the manager hopes they can repeat Saturday's performance in the European game.
"This is the Girona I want, 100%. We started the game very well, that's the reality," Michel added.
"The first half hour was spectacular, with and without the ball... We had a presence up front. The first half hour is what we want to do this season."
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