The Dons face Birmingham City today looking to end a memorable 2015 on a positive note.
Karl Robinson’s side will also be in search of their third win in four games, having beaten both Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City in the last fortnight – two sides that sit in the top half of the Sky Bet Championship table.
The win over Cardiff on Boxing Day was a result that saw the men from MK1 move to within three points of Preston North End in 17th spot – a gap they will be looking to reduce in their final outing of the calendar year.
THE OPPOSITION
Birmingham have won only once in their last seven games but they do still sit only four points behind the play-off places.
The Blues ended a run of five games without a victory before Christmas with a 1-0 triumph at home to Cardiff City but they weren’t able to follow that result up on Boxing Day, instead slipping to a 3-0 loss at Sheffield Wednesday.
In terms of their form at St. Andrews, Gary Rowett’s men have won four of their 11 home matches, scoring 10 goals and conceding 13.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUTS
Karl Robinson: “We’re going to give ourselves every opportunity with our preparation to go to Birmingham and get a result. We need to make sure we prepare right and then we can get excited for the game.”
Gary Rowett: “We have to make sure we are at it against MK Dons. They move the ball around well and if we defend with that sort of tepidness we did on Boxing Day then they will create chances and cause us problems, so it is important we have a reaction from the players.”
TEAM NEWS
Robinson is expected to make changes to his starting XI given the short turnaround from Boxing Day.
Carl Baker, Dean Bowditch and Sam Gallagher all came off the bench in Saturday’s win over Cardiff and may be in line for starts. Lee Hodson, Simon Church and Daniel Powell will also be hopeful of recalls.
Dale Jennings (knee) and Matt Upson (calf) are sidelined while Diego Poyet is also a doubt having picked up an injury in training which kept him out of the Boxing Day game at stadiummk.
REFEREE
Andy Davies will be the man in the middle for the clash at St. Andrews, taking charge of the Dons for the second time in as many months having refereed the 1-0 victory over Charlton Athletic back in November.
Davies produced seven yellow cards that evening at stadiummk which are included in his total of 65 so far this season. He has also sent off three players and awarded one penalty.
The assistant referees are Richard Bartlett and Kevin Morris while the fourth official is Trevor Kettle.
HEAD TO HEAD
Dons wins: 0
Dons wins at St. Andrews: 0
Last Dons win: N/A
Birmingham wins: 2
Birmingham wins at St. Andrews: 1
Last Birmingham win: 2-0, 29th Aug 2015 (stadiummk)
Draws: 0
Draws at St. Andrews: 0
Last draw: N/A
SKY BET ODDS
Result
Birmingham win: 11/10
Draw: 23/10
Dons win: 5/2
First goalscorer
Clayton Donaldson: 9/2
James Vaughan: 5/1
Nicolai Brock-Madsen: 6/1
Nicky Maynard: 7/1
Rob Hall: 9/1
Josh Murphy: 10/1
*All odds correct at the time of writing
Click here for odds on all Sky Bet Championship outright markets - don't forget the Dons benefit every time you win with Sky Bet!
MATCH COVERAGE
Tune in to MK Dons PlayerHD from 2.50pm today for live commentary of the clash - click here to sign up for as little as £4.49 a month!
Fans can also stay in touch with the Dons via mkdons.com’s matchday blog, which can be accessed by visiting the home page from midday.
Those on Twitter can also follow every pass, tackle, shot and goal by following the Club’s official page - @MKDonsFC
A full match report will be available to view on mkdons.com straight after the final whistle.
Tickets for today's clash at Birmingham City can now only be bought at St. Andrews, priced at £20 adults, £15 seniors/students, £10 13-18 year-olds and £5 under-18s.
The win over Cardiff on Boxing Day was a result that saw the men from MK1 move to within three points of Preston North End in 17th spot – a gap they will be looking to reduce in their final outing of the calendar year.
THE OPPOSITION
Birmingham have won only once in their last seven games but they do still sit only four points behind the play-off places.
The Blues ended a run of five games without a victory before Christmas with a 1-0 triumph at home to Cardiff City but they weren’t able to follow that result up on Boxing Day, instead slipping to a 3-0 loss at Sheffield Wednesday.
In terms of their form at St. Andrews, Gary Rowett’s men have won four of their 11 home matches, scoring 10 goals and conceding 13.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUTS
Karl Robinson: “We’re going to give ourselves every opportunity with our preparation to go to Birmingham and get a result. We need to make sure we prepare right and then we can get excited for the game.”
Gary Rowett: “We have to make sure we are at it against MK Dons. They move the ball around well and if we defend with that sort of tepidness we did on Boxing Day then they will create chances and cause us problems, so it is important we have a reaction from the players.”
TEAM NEWS
Robinson is expected to make changes to his starting XI given the short turnaround from Boxing Day.
Carl Baker, Dean Bowditch and Sam Gallagher all came off the bench in Saturday’s win over Cardiff and may be in line for starts. Lee Hodson, Simon Church and Daniel Powell will also be hopeful of recalls.
Dale Jennings (knee) and Matt Upson (calf) are sidelined while Diego Poyet is also a doubt having picked up an injury in training which kept him out of the Boxing Day game at stadiummk.
REFEREE
Andy Davies will be the man in the middle for the clash at St. Andrews, taking charge of the Dons for the second time in as many months having refereed the 1-0 victory over Charlton Athletic back in November.
Davies produced seven yellow cards that evening at stadiummk which are included in his total of 65 so far this season. He has also sent off three players and awarded one penalty.
The assistant referees are Richard Bartlett and Kevin Morris while the fourth official is Trevor Kettle.
HEAD TO HEAD
Dons wins: 0
Dons wins at St. Andrews: 0
Last Dons win: N/A
Birmingham wins: 2
Birmingham wins at St. Andrews: 1
Last Birmingham win: 2-0, 29th Aug 2015 (stadiummk)
Draws: 0
Draws at St. Andrews: 0
Last draw: N/A
SKY BET ODDS
Result
Birmingham win: 11/10
Draw: 23/10
Dons win: 5/2
First goalscorer
Clayton Donaldson: 9/2
James Vaughan: 5/1
Nicolai Brock-Madsen: 6/1
Nicky Maynard: 7/1
Rob Hall: 9/1
Josh Murphy: 10/1
*All odds correct at the time of writing
Click here for odds on all Sky Bet Championship outright markets - don't forget the Dons benefit every time you win with Sky Bet!
MATCH COVERAGE
Tune in to MK Dons PlayerHD from 2.50pm today for live commentary of the clash - click here to sign up for as little as £4.49 a month!
Fans can also stay in touch with the Dons via mkdons.com’s matchday blog, which can be accessed by visiting the home page from midday.
Those on Twitter can also follow every pass, tackle, shot and goal by following the Club’s official page - @MKDonsFC
A full match report will be available to view on mkdons.com straight after the final whistle.
Tickets for today's clash at Birmingham City can now only be bought at St. Andrews, priced at £20 adults, £15 seniors/students, £10 13-18 year-olds and £5 under-18s.
