JOHN Ward admitted that his team lost a ‘little spirit’ when MK Dons grabbed their third goal in a 5-1 thrashing of Colchester United this afternoon.

JOHN Ward admitted that his team lost a ‘little spirit’ when MK Dons grabbed their third goal in a 5-1 thrashing of Colchester United this afternoon.

The U’s had no response to the dominant Dons during a one-sided final hour of the match, despite taking the lead through Matt Heath on 23 minutes.

“We’ve come out of the game heavily defeated, which is a tough one to take,” rued U’s boss Ward.

“The third goal really knocked us. It knocked the spirit out of us a little bit, that’s what happened.

“We stepped up at 2-1 down and had one or two opportunities to get back into the game, but these things didn’t happen.

“We did drop our heads a little bit at 3-1 down, or lose our spirit a little.

“I understand that, but I don’t like it,” added Ward.

Defender Heath’s 23rd minute header had put the U’s ahead, only for the visitors to concede five unanswered goals during the last hour.

Ex-U’s loanee Charlie MacDonald scored a brace, while Tom Flanaghan, Stephen Gleeson and Jabbo Ibehre were also on target for the rampant Dons.