That foot is becoming overloaded with bullets now.

Albion shot themselves again, Adam El-Abd the red card culprit this time.

The equivalent of an entire defence has been dismissed in the last eight games, El-Abd joining Michel Kuipers, Tommy Elphick, Colin Hawkins and Adam Virgo on the roll of dishonour.

Andrew Whing, no stranger to seeing red and yellow, must be feeling left out as he recovers from hernia surgery.

El-Abd, making his 201st appearance for the club, can count himself a little unlucky, certainly unluckier than Virgo was at Bristol Rovers.

Yet it was no great surprise, in the current climate, that the combative right-back received his marching orders in the 26th minute for a risky challenge on Richie Partridge just inside the MK Dons half.

If you go in knee-high, with studs showing, then you are asking for trouble from a referee like Paul Taylor.

The most experienced official on the circuit has never been shy in showing a card or two, as Albion discovered to their cost and Russell Slade to his benefit when Joe Anyinsah was sent off at Yeovil last season.

Slade must be wondering what on earth he has done to deserve such a horror run of costly dismissals.

The battling draw at Rovers was the only point Albion have taken from their numerical disadvantages, hardly surprising when you consider El-Abd, Virgo and Kuipers all departed before half-time.

Nicky Forster, skipper again in Virgo’s absence, had sympathy for El-Abd. He said: “Adam didn’t come through the back of him or try to hurt him. They were both committed and looking at the ball.

“There was contact but this is the way the game has gone, unfortunately. I think a yellow card would have been all right and I think the amount they (MK Dons) made of it played a part.

“I think the referee wanted to try to quash any sort of mass brawl so he pulled out the red card straight away. He didn’t give it a lot of thought.

“He’s an experienced ref and Paul is a nice guy, so it’s not a personal criticism of him.

“But I have mentioned before that sometimes, when they are in two minds, it is easier for them to send the player off and then the player go to appeal and get let off than it is, particularly in the high-profile games, to not send them off.”

El-Abd’s punishment was not the worst decision Taylor made. That came ten minutes later, when he clearly responded to the baying crowd in booking Partridge for an innocuous foul on Elliott Bennett. It was an all-too transparent attempt to go some way to evening things up.

Taylor also did nothing when, midway through the second half, Tommy Elphick appeared to tug matchwinner Jermaine Easter inside the area. It was the sort of incident which, nowadays, demanded either a penalty or a booking for diving.

Easter, back from a four-match absence through injury, decided matters four matters into the second half in scruffy fashion, which again left the Withdean faithful voicing their anger at the officials.

Aaron Wilbraham looked suspiciously offside before the unimpressive visitors were awarded a corner which Jemal Johnson delivered towards the near post. Albion failed to clear and ball looped up for Easter to nod in his eighth of the season from close range.

A rueful Slade said: “It took a wicked deflection off James Tunnicliffe’s heel, which has taken it really beyond our goalkeeper, and he has been able to nod it in from two yards so again fortune did not favour us.

“We have got to learn these lessons. It’s harsh at the moment and games are kicking us in the teeth but things will turn around, I’ve no doubt about that. It’s a big learning curve for some of my young players.”

Disheartening though it was to lose for the fourth time out of five at home, there was much to admire about Albion’s performance and they will soon be climbing the table if they keep on playing like this.

What made El-Abd’s dismissal all the more frustrating was that they had started the game on the front foot and, even against ten men, Willy Gueret was the busier keeper.

Slade said: “It was as well as we have started this season. The crowd got behind us and we were taking the game to MK Dons.

“We didn’t have as much possession as we would have liked in the second half but we had to be calculated to win it back and attack and maybe nick a goal from a set play.

“We have lost to a messy goal against a team fourth in the table. It encourages me in one sense, because it tells me we are not a million miles away.”

Albion (4-4-2): Kuipers; El-Abd, Elphick, Tunnicliffe, Wright; Bennett, Dicker (Murray 81), Crofts, A. Davies (Thornhill 64); Forster, Dickinson. Subs not used: Cox, Navarro, Livermore, Hart, G. Smith.

Goals: None.

Yellow card: Dickinson (90) unsporting behaviour.

Red card: El-Abd (26) serious foul play.

MK Dons (4-4-2): Gueret; Doumbe, Powell, McCracken, Lewington; Johnson (Howell 90), Gleeson, Leven, Partridge (Morgan 64); Easter (Davis 81), Wilbraham. Subs not used: Carrington, Searle, Ibehre, Swailes.

Goals: Easter (49).

Red cards: None.

Yellow cards: Partridge (36) foul, Doumbe (85) time wasting, Gleeson (90) unsporting behaviour.