TRANMERE were beaten by a combination of smart, resourceful opponents playing high quality football and an unforgiving home crowd at chilly Prenton Park.

Rovers did a pretty decent job of countering the threat of League One’s red-hot form team during the first 45 minutes and were rewarded with booing from some elements of supporters at the half-time whistle.

Their efforts deserved a more positive reaction than that and manager Les Parry was entitled to lift his hands in a gesture of surprise and disappointment as he walked from the dug-out. His pep talk to a team that could count themselves unfortunate to be a goal down was made all the more difficult.

There were more noises of discontent from the stands after the interval, understandably so this time, as Tranmere’s resistance became less effective and MK Dons’ grip on the contest became ever tighter.

Even so, the booing of individuals can never be more than counter-productive. Parry’s players can only hope that some members of the audience will find a sense of perspective with the seasonal goodwill when Prenton Park opens its doors again on Boxing Day.

The impatient mood of the crowd probably had more to do with Tranmere’s run of poor results over the last six weeks than their failure to match the slickest opponents they have faced all season.

The statistics tell a grim tale. This was the third League One defeat in a row for Tranmere, who have gone seven league and cup games without a victory. Parry and his coaching staff dedicated a lot of work on the training ground over the last fortnight to trying to relocate the formula that brought success in early months of the season.

If Tranmere had been up against less talented and confident opponents than MK Dons, they might have done well enough to squeeze out a result and stop the rot.

But the visitors were just too good for them. The statistics behind the Dons’ run of success are also revealing: this was their seventh straight victory in league and cup games and goals by Jabo Ibehre and Shaun Williams brought their tally for the season to 62 in 26 games.

Karl Robinson’s team have moved to within three points of an automatic promotion spot on the back of a commitment to passing football that is stronger than at any club in the division.

This was not their most flamboyant performance of the season. There were periods in the first half when Tranmere forced them to take a pragmatic approach. But they were never less than composed and measured in moving the ball about and were able to find a quality of delivery of the final pass that Tranmere could not match.