Paul Warne says he is not losing sleep over his job security despite MK Dons failing to win any of their opening six League One matches this season. The 53-year-old, who guided the club to automatic promotion last term, is urging patience rather than panic as the Dons try to find their feet back in the third tier.

A slow start for newly promoted Dons

MK Dons won promotion in some style during the 2025-26 campaign, finishing as the division's top scorers with 86 goals and recording 24 wins against only eight defeats. The step up has proven harder to navigate than that form might have suggested. Six matches into the new season, they have picked up five draws and suffered one defeat, that coming at Wigan.

It is a points tally that flatters no one, and Warne is not pretending otherwise. "I do feel we've been better than our points tally," he told BBC Three Counties Radio, "but the points tally doesn't lie."

Warne: 'I don't worry about consequence'

Asked directly whether he fears the sack, Warne was characteristically blunt. "If we lost 10 matches on the run and you said to me 'Are you worried about your job?' I'd say 'No'," he said. "I'm never worried about my job. Not from an arrogant point of view. I worry about enough things not to also worry about that."

He placed a good deal of the responsibility squarely on his own shoulders, acknowledging that changes in system and personnel have disrupted what was a settled, free-scoring side. "I do feel a lot of it is at my door because we have changed the system, we have changed the players around quite a bit," he admitted.

The tone is measured rather than defensive, which is fairly typical of Warne. He has always been the sort of manager who treats a press conference as a conversation rather than a performance, and there was no sign of that changing here. Whether the board at Stadium MK will share his equanimity if results do not improve is a different question, and one that is not yet being asked out loud.

Wimbledon rivalry offers chance to change the mood

The fixture calendar, at least, offers an immediate opportunity. Warne's side travel to AFC Wimbledon on Thursday, a match that carries the particular charge that local derbies always carry for supporters of both clubs. "I'm well aware of the importance of the game to both sets of fans," Warne said. "It's a bit like a play-off final where you've just got to leave everything out there."

The manager did not shy away from how much a first win would mean, adding: "There are certain games that just get your blood boiling a bit more. It would be a fitting way to get a win on the board."

For the Dons' supporters, who have watched their side be competitive without being clinical, the frustration is real. Warne acknowledged as much, saying he felt "a bit sorry for the fans that they haven't seen the team properly settled yet."

The bigger picture

Six games is a small sample and the margins in League One are always tight; a couple of those draws converted into wins would put a very different complexion on things. But the pattern of starting slowly after promotion is not unusual, and Warne is hardly the first manager to point out the gap between performance and results in the early weeks of a season.

What matters now is whether the system clicks into place quickly enough to keep the Dons in the top half of the table before the season sets its shape. A win at Wimbledon would not solve everything, but it would at least quiet the noise. Five draws and a defeat, for a side that scored 86 goals last season, is not a crisis. It is, however, a statement of the work still to be done.

Frequently asked

Why have MK Dons not won a game this season?
MK Dons have drawn five and lost one of their opening six League One matches. Manager Paul Warne has attributed the slow start partly to changes in system and squad personnel following the club's promotion.
Is Paul Warne under pressure at MK Dons?
Warne has publicly said he is not worried about losing his job, insisting he always picks the team without fear of consequence. The club has not made any public statement suggesting his position is under threat.
When do MK Dons play AFC Wimbledon?
MK Dons travel to AFC Wimbledon on Thursday in a League One fixture that Warne has described as carrying the intensity of a play-off final for both sets of supporters.