Notts County boss Neal Ardley says his side must win two of their remaining three games if they are to stand a chance of preserving their Football League status.
The Magpies were beaten for the tenth time this season at Meadow Lane and by an MK Dons side gunning for promotion back to League One on Good Friday, losing 2-1.
That result has left Notts nailed to the bottom of League Two with just three games left to play.
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"We will now probably need to win two," said Ardley.
"We are not taking our opportunities when they come, with the others losing.
"Who knows what is written in the stars over the next three games, but the one thing we know is that we have got to recover really quickly and go again if we want to take this down to the wire and save our season."
The Magpies have just 72 hours to prepare for Monday's clash with Crawley Town and must once again pick themselves up.
They will train tomorrow, and again on Easter Sunday as Ardley assess who has made it through unscathed with a number of his key players struggling with injury and illness.
"I thought the boys gave everything today," he added.
"Mitch Rose could not breath at half time but we wanted to stay on.
"In the end, we were undone at a time when they brought on their big centre forward and we had to rearrange our markers to deal with it.
"Our tallest was marking their tallest, but then they brought on a taller player.
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"But still, the lads have to see their jobs through and that was the key moment that changed the game.
"The second goal came from a breakaway when we had four forwards on the pitch and we were chasing the game.
"That wouldn't have happened if we hadn't have conceded.
"Other than that, the boys gave it absolutely everything."
