Paul Warne disappointed as MK Dons let two-goal lead slip at Grimsby

Paul Warne was disappointed to see his MK Dons side surrender a strong position to draw 2-2 with Grimsby after what he called their strongest half of football this season.

It was a difficult second half for the Dons after they had put themselves two goals ahead at half-time, with a great chance to stretch their winning streak to four games.

Callum Paterson scored from the spot, and a Harvey Rodgers own goal inside the first 30 minutes had Warne’s side flying against the in-form Mariners, who had not dropped a point in League Two in 2026.

Jaze Kabia scored twice after the break for the hosts as they rescued a point, leaving MK Dons boss Warne deflated.

“It was an excellent first half, probably the best 45 minutes we’ve played this season,” he said.

“We could’ve had multiple penalties, and there were one or two opportunities where we didn’t pull the trigger when we probably should have.

“We kept exploiting their weaknesses, and the front two worked really hard, but in the second half they came back as you would expect, so we had to ride the storm.

“They got one goal back when we felt we had done that in the first part of the second half, which was disappointing, and to concede the second from a set-piece from the front zone like that was horrific from our standpoint.

“Getting a point here shouldn’t feel bad, but it does feel like a defeat from the position we were in and in the last 20 minutes, when they had their tails up, we got through that comfortably.”

Kabia took on half-time instructions to make a bigger impact in the second half, as Grimsby could not maintain their 100 per cent start to 2026 but remained unbeaten in January.

Assistant head coach Shaun Pearson said: “Obviously, when you find yourself 2-0 down in a game, everyone was delighted with the way we came back into it, and we even had the chance to go on and win it.

“We’re proud of the team for taking on board what was needed at half-time to get back into the game, and we made the tactical tweak which helped us massively.

“They had momentum in the game, and they were dangerous on the counter, so we didn’t have the control we normally have in the first half because our lines were too far apart at times.

“We spoke at half-time about him [Kabia] getting a bit closer to Cooky [Andy Cook] because he is such a handful and can make things happen through his size alone, so again it was great to see it come off.”