Preview: Lincoln City

All you need to know ahead of tonight's Sky Bet League One clash...

13 April 2021

MK Dons are back on the road this evening as they travel to Lincoln City.

Russell Martin's men are unbeaten in their last two away trips, having beaten Burton Albion prior to Saturday's goalless draw at play-off chasing Ipswich Town.

Another road victory tonight could lift the Dons as high as 11th in Sky Bet League One while a point will be enough for them to secure their third-tier status - they will also be mathmatically safe from relegation if Wigan Athletic and Swindon Town both drop points.

Kick-off is at 7pm.

THE OPPOSITION
Lincoln City currently sit sixth in the Sky Bet League One table as they look to secure a play-off finish. The Imps are one point ahead of Charlton Athletic but do have a game in hand on the London side. They are one of the top scorers in the division having netted 57 goals in their 38 games this season, however, they have conceded the most out of any side in the play-off places.

Lincoln appointed Michael Appleton in September 2019 after Danny Cowley left to join Huddersfield Town. Under the stewardship of Appleton, they recorded a 16th place finish last season. This year, the Imps have been fighting for promotion all season and have occupied an automatic finish on a few times this year. They are without a win in their last six games, most recently drawing with Blackpool.

Jorge Grant leads their goalscoring charts with 13 goals to his name this season and has shown the other side of his game with 10 assists. Anthony Scully finds himself in second with 11 goals, with Tom Hopper third with nine to his name.

LAST TIME OUT
MK Dons and Ipswich Town shared the spoils for the second time this season after they played out a goalless draw at Portman Road.

The Dons enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had chances to take all three points, with Scott Fraser, Matt O’Riley and Andrew Surman all going close.

Lincoln City, meanwhile, picked up an important point on Saturday afternoon following a fight back after finding themselves 2-0 down against Blackpool.

Goals from Ellis Simms and Sullay Kaikai were cancelled out by Anthony Scully and Brennan Johnson as the match ended 2-2.

FIGHTING TALK
Russell Martin: "They’ve been disrupted by Covid and lost a lot of players through injury but I don’t think you can take anything away from (Michael) Appleton - he’s changed a lot in terms of the players and the style and it’s showing

"I’m sure they’ll want to finish their season in the play offs. Every game is massive for them and they’ll want to cement their place. Full credit for what they’ve done but we’re going there in good form with good performance levels - we have to put in another good performance and be clinical in the final third."

Michael Appleton: “They probably will (play with freedom) but, to be fair, they do that anyway. They like to pass the ball. It will be very different to (Saturday), with two sides who want to build and create momentum in the final third.”

“MK Dons on their day can score goals and hurt you but they also go through periods where they don’t score at times. We just have to be mindful of what their strengths and weaknesses are tomorrow and make sure we highlight their weaknesses rather than their strengths.”

TEAM NEWS
MK Dons will be without Warren O’Hora as the defender is likely to miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

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Martin confirmed the injury to the media following the draw with Ipswich Town, saying: "It's been a persistent issue which has been managed well, but he just can't keep going on. He's just fallen victim to playing so much football but also training on AstroTurf all the time – it has just kept flaring it up."

Louis Thompson and Cameron Jerome both missed the draw at Portman Road due to injury and it remains to be seen whether the pair will be available for tonight's trip to Lincoln. Martin revealed that both players should feature before the end of the season.

Ben Gladwin, Kieran Agard and Jay Bird remain on the sidelines.

Lincoln City have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this evening's match at the LNER Stadium.

Midfielder Max Sanders and former Dons defender Joe Walsh returned to action for the Imps at the weekend and should be involved again.

Top scorer Jorge Grant and striker Tom Hopper are unlikely to be available, however, while midfielder Liam Bridcutt is a doubt.

OFFICIALS
Robert Madley will be the man in the middle tonight.

Mr Madley has overseen 30 matches so far this term, producing a total of 92 yellow cards. He has sent off three players and has awarded ten penalties.

His assistant referees are Robert Atkin and Alan Clayton, while the fourth official is James Bell.

HEAD TO HEAD
Dons wins: 5
Dons wins at LNER Stadium: 2
Last Dons win: 2-1, 20 Aug 2019 (Stadium MK)
Biggest Dons win: 4-0, 14 Oct 2007 (Stadium MK)

Draws: 3

Draws at LNER Stadium: 2

Last draw: 1-1, 11 Feb 2020 (LNER Stadium)

Lincoln City wins: 3

Lincoln City wins at LNER Stadium: 1

Last Lincoln City win: 2-0, 6 Apr 2019 (Stadium MK)

Biggest Lincoln City win: 2-1, 19 Sep 2020 (Stadium MK)

ELSEWHERE IN SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
Crewe Alexandra v Portsmouth
Wigan Athletic v Sunderland
AFC Wimbledon v Ipswich Town
Blackpool v Accrington Stanley
Doncaster Rovers v Burton Albion
Oxford United v Shrewsbury Town
Rochdale v Swindon Town

FOLLOW IT LIVE
Supporters can watch tonight's Sky Bet League One clash with Lincoln City LIVE on iFollow MK Dons.

To purchase a £10 Video Match Pass, click HERE and select Buy A Video Match Pass. Then simply log in to your iFollow MK Dons account and follow the instructions or register for an account, which can be done for free.

Match Reports

Report: Lincoln City 4-0 MK Dons

Second-half collapse sees MK Dons suffer defeat in Lincoln...

13 April 2021

Four goals in 26 second-half minutes saw MK Dons beaten 4-0 by Lincoln City at the LNER Stadium.

After a tightly-contested first period, Lincoln ran away with the match in the second, thanks largely to an 11-minute hat-trick from Brennan Johnson, who was lucky to escape a red card early on.

An own goal from Andrew Fisher, from Cohen Bramall's free-kick, capped off a disappointing evening for the Dons, who fell to only their second defeat in seven matches – a result which leaves them 14th in the Sky Bet League One table with five games left to play.

Martin made just one change from the weekend, with Matthew Sorinola replacing Daniel Harvie on the left-hand side. The rest was as you were from the goalless draw with Ipswich Town.

Lincoln threatened first through Cohen Bramall, who raced onto a through pass and delivered a dangerous cross which was put behind by Dean Lewington.

The Dons then went close from a Matthew Sorinola cross, following a decent spell of possession inside the Lincoln half. Will Grigg connected with the ball in but saw his header deflected over for a corner, from which Andrew Surman fired over with a first-time effort.

Brennan Johnson drilled across goal for the hosts with 11 minutes on the clock. The next effort arrived seven minutes later as Matthew Sorinola volleyed wide of the target from Scott Fraser’s blocked cross.

There was a moment of controversy midway through the first half when Johnson, moments after being booked for kicking the ball away, flew in late to foul Ethan Laird – however, referee Bobby Madley opted against issuing a second yellow card.

A teasing cross from Sorinola almost led to a chance for Grigg on the half-hour mark but he was unable to meet the delivery. Moments later, Lincoln had an opportunity to break the deadlock, following a loose pass, but Morgan Rogers saw his attempt deflected wide by Harry Darling.

With 10 minutes to play in the half, Laird went close to meeting Sorinola’s inviting ball into the area. Shortly after, Darling was a whisker away from connecting with O’Riley’s free-kick.

Darling was then involved at the opposite end of the pitch as he got himself in the way of Regan Poole’s goal-bound drive. Poole also had the final attempt of the first half – an 18-yard shot deflected into the arms of Fisher.

There was an early chance for Anthony Scully, less than a minute after the re-start, but he failed to bring a cross under control inside the area and Fisher was able to gather the loose ball.

Lincoln worked another opening two minutes later and, this time, took advantage, as Johnson latched onto Rogers’ through pass and lifted his shot over the on-rushing Fisher and into the net. 1-0.

Five minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead through Johnson, again, who was the beneficiary after Lincoln had won possession deep in the MK Dons half – his finish a confident one at the far post. 2-0.

Martin soon went to his bench and made a double change, with Harvie and David Kasumu replacing Sorinola and Josh McEachran.

Before either of them could get into their stride, however, Lincoln extended their advantage to three and put the game out of Dons’ reach – Johnson, lucky to be on the pitch, completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after was adjudged to be a foul by Jules on Rogers. 3-0.

Charlie Brown and Jordan Houghton came on for Grigg and Surman with 20 minutes left to play. The Dons, though, would fall even further behind with a quarter of an hour left to play – Bramall’s free-kick finding the net off the back of Fisher. 4-0.

Harvie had an opportunity to reduce the deficit straight from the re-start but his strike was blocked by a defender on its way through to Palmer’s goal. That was the closest the Dons came to salvaging something from the contest.

MK Dons: Fisher, Lewington, Jules, McEachran (Kasumu 56), Darling, Grigg (Brown 70), Fraser, Laird (Harvie 56), Surman (Houghton 71), O’Riley, Sorinola.

Subs: Nicholls, Sorensen, Mason.

Booked: Laird, Darling, Harvie,

Lincoln City: Palmer, Poole, Jackson (Eyoma 63), Edun, Scully, Bramall (Jones 78), Walsh (Monstma (78), McGrandles, Morton, Johnson (Anderson 67), Rogers.

Subs: Long, Sanders, Draper

Goals: Johnson (48, 53, 58), Fisher O.G. (74)

Booked: Poole, Johnson

Referee: B Madley