Paul Trollope pointed to a “lack of tempo” in Bristol Rovers’ play as one of the reasons for their 2-1 defeat at MK Dons.

The Pirates contributed to their own downfall as a Byron Anthony blunder gifted the home side their opener, and they gave the ball away and were then caught on the counter-attack for the Dons’ second.

Though Chris Lines nudged the ball home for a late goal for the visitors, who then had the home side under pressure over the final stages, coach Trollope acknowledged it was too little, too late from his side.

“We looked quite comfortable in the first half, although we didn’t get the ball into the final third as much as we would have liked,” said Trollope, pictured right.

“It was different from the type of game we are used to because MK Dons give you time to build from the back, but we didn’t move the ball as quickly as we needed to if we were going to work our way through them and create chances.

“We lacked a tempo in the first half and the front two didn’t hold the ball up well enough.”

The result – Bristol Rovers’ third defeat in their last four games – left them 12th in League One, although they have a game in hand on the sides directly above them.

But Trollope was left to bemoan the way the promotion-chasing Dons were allowed their goals.

“Byron was the last man and tried to take his opponent on – which is something you shouldn’t do – and we got punished for it,” he said.

“We came out in the second half with the intention of playing with a bit more tempo, but unfortunately gave the ball away cheaply in their half and got done on the counter-attack.

“It was another disappointing goal to concede from our point of view and a couple of bad decisions have cost us.

“MK Dons showed what a good side they are – but we showed a good spirit to nearly get back into it.

“We were 2-0 down after 50 minutes and the players could have just wilted, but they kept playing with spirit and came back into the game strongly.

“Our goal sparked us into life but we were disappointed we didn’t start the game in the same way, which might have allowed us to win.

“We got a bit of impetus and the lads felt they had a good shout for a late penalty turned down, but we just couldn’t get the equaliser.”

Rovers face another promotion-hunting side when Millwall visit the Memorial Stadium on Saturday and will need to monitor the fitness of a number of players.

Trollope said: “Aaron Lescott tweaked a groin and a few others suffered dead leg injuries during the game so we will have to monitor things over the next few days.

“We will need a team that is fit and fresh to face Millwall.”