Steve Evans bemoaned a lack of quality on the ball after seeing his side scrape a late 1-1 draw at home to MK Dons on Saturday afternoon - a game which the head coach admitted "wasn’t for the purists".

United had trailed to Rob Hall’s first-half opener and looked on course to start 2016 with a frustrating defeat at Elland Road, but Dons defender Antony Kay turned a Charlie Taylor cross into his own net two minutes from time to ensure the spoils would be shared.

“I don’t think we played until around the 80-minute mark, and we were gambling a bit then and chasing the game,” Evans said.

“We won enough tackles, we won enough of the ball, but our quality on the ball today was way short of what we would expect and what we’ve worked on.

“It wasn’t a game for the purists, that’s for sure - as they were as bad as we were.

“We’re very grateful for the own goal, it looked bizarre to me and the kid probably couldn’t do it again if he tried it another hundred times. We’ll take the point and move on.”

Despite Evans’ disappointment with the display, the draw meant United’s unbeaten run was extended to seven games in the Championship.

The head coach added: "You take the continuation of the little unbeaten run, but it is not ideal.

“I am the type of manager who hurts because of this as I pride myself on the quality of performance that my team puts in.

"You could not fault my team for effort, desire, commitment and passion. But the lack of being able to pass the ball ten yards was evident and (lack of) concentration levels.

"It does take a certain type of player to play here. You need to apply yourselves mentally to whoever you play and this club has played some giants of world football.