Scott Lindsey said he felt his MK Dons side could have been more assertive in attack after a 1-1 draw with Crewe.
The Dons took an early lead through Joe White, who scored a ninth-minute goal against his former club.
But Jamie Knight-Lebel bundled in an equaliser for Alex just after the break, in a game where neither side could get a winner.
The result saw Crewe maintain a run that has seen them lose just one of their last 14 League Two games, while MK Dons’ winless run stretched to four matches.
Lindsey felt his side could have offered more after their early breakthrough.
He said: “I thought we did not step forward when we should have.
“We get the first goal quite early and I think after we scored, we spent the next 10 minutes in our half of the pitch.
“So I want us to be braver and to step forward, keep attacking, keep playing and keep creating opportunities for us to get two goals and make it harder for the opposition.
“Second half, I didn’t think we started the half very well. We huffed and puffed a little bit and then we kind of got a little bit more control through the second half.
“I think there was some good passages and right at the end, probably last five minutes, we looked like the team that were trying to win it.
“We didn’t create loads but I must admit we just played against a really solid defence. They’re a really hard nut to crack and they don’t allow you much space.”
Crewe boss Lee Bell saw things he liked as his team came back into the contest and he looked for his side to turn more draws into wins.
He said: “Two contrasting halves. I thought we allowed MK to have a little bit of control in the game and their one goal was their one real opportunity.
“It was something we spoke about – we know Joe and he’s got some quality. Overall, I think we’re disappointed we’ve drawn the game with the clear-cut chances that we had, but the performance level was where we wanted it to be.
“Results are still there but we need more wins. We’ve drawn the most of the top half of the table, I think, but the performance levels are maintaining where we want to be and what we want to look like.
“We’ve got to try and replicate what we’ve just done there for large parts of the game from the start. We’ve got to concentrate on how we’re going to hurt them, always mindful of the opposition and we want to try and play with that kind of tempo in the game.”
