MK Dons manager Karl Robinson says his side are ‘chomping at the bit’ to get back to League action this weekend.
Due to The FA Cup with Budweiser and the postponement of last weekend’s trip to Oldham Athletic, the Dons have not played a League match in three weeks, with their last Sky Bet League 1 outing coming over 20 days ago at home to Walsall.
Robinson’s men had won two on the spin heading into last week but their absence from the fixture list saw them slip to 11th in the table while fall four points behind the play-off places.
And therefore the 33-year-old manager is eager to return to the field and pick up where his side left off. Speaking to MK Dons Player, Robinson said: “They are chomping at the bit to get back out there.
“The energy amongst the group is tremendous. I think the way Damo and the backroom staff have dealt with having no game is brilliant, their plan has been fantastic and we feel fresh.
“I think it was important we didn’t just relax on our morals during the break and see it as time to rest. Internally we’ve dealt with one or two things and we’ve also moved things on. We’ve worked on or two thing tactically as well so I couldn’t ask for any more.
“We need to make sure over these next three or four games, we really challenge ourselves. For the next ten days starting on Saturday the boys are in every single day without a day off. This is time for us to go into overdrive and time for us to push and see how far we can go.
“I’m in a really good place with this group at the moment. Their attitude has been remarkable but the judgement will be at 3pm on Saturday.”
Although Robinson would have preferred to play last weekend, the postponement did allow several of his injured players an extra week to return to fitness, most notably young midfielder Dele Alli.
The 17-year-old his first 45 minutes of football since September in Tuesday’s behind-closed-doors friendly with Fulham and after making it through unscathed, his manager is itching to put his name down on the team-sheet for this weekend.
“We’re four players stronger than we would have been last Saturday. We’ve now got Samir, Lee Hodson and Patrick back with us full of confidence, having been away with their international teams.
“We’ve also got Dele Alli back from injury as well which is a big one for us. He’s been a big loss to us because he’s a special talent. He got some important game time against Fulham on Tuesday, which was good for us.
“Finally, Antony Kay and David Martin are back running for the first time. They play a big part in the squad because you feel for the injured players, so seeing them back does add to the confidence of the group.”
