MK Dons unhappy the first Peterborough United goal wasn't disallowed for a foul

Jackson suffered his defeat as a Football League manager as Posh won the Thursday night League One clash 2-0 at the Weston Homes Stadium.

Joe Ward opened the scoring for Posh six minutes before the break and Ricky-Jade Jones added a second goal three minutes into the second-half.

Posh were deserved winners – captain Jonson Clarke-Harris saw a penalty saved just before the hour mark – but there were reasonable claims that Posh centre-back Kell Watts committed a foul in the build-up to Ward’s goal.

Jackson told the MK Citizen: “We'll look at the moments in the game we could have managed better, and we certainly could have managed the goals better.

“I think there was a foul leading up to their first goal, but we can't control that - sometimes decisions go for you, sometimes against you. The second one we had to manage better too.

“There's disappointment in the dressing room, but I've tried to be positive with them, because the games are coming thick and fast and we have to keep positivity.

“We knew Peterborough would be a threat from wide areas and how they shifted the ball, but we'll have to pick ourselves up and go again. We can't be down for too long because we have to go again at Plymouth on Sunday.

“When you win, you can't be too high and when you lose, you can't get too low. You have to create a mindset of enjoying victories but when losses come, you have to pick yourselves up.”

MK Dons dropped down a place to 22nd after the defeat, but are just a point from safety ahead of their tough New Year’s Day trip to the League One leaders,

Burton Albion climbed out of the bottom four with a 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Forest Green Rovers, while Accrington Stanley dropped into the relegation zone after a 2-0 defeat at bottom club Morecambe.