Boss Robbie Neilson is expecting a tough afternoon at Vale Park but the MK Dons boss is confident his side can collect what would be an important away result.
Neilson and his team visit Staffordshire knowing a victory will see them move nine points clear of the Valiants, who currently occupy that final place in Sky Bet League One’s bottom four.
“We’re going up there to try and win the game,” Neilson told the media. “We want to try and get three points so that we can push up the league again.
“It will be tough, though. They are fighting for their lives and they’ve got a couple of games in hand on teams around them so they’ll still have that hope of getting themselves out of the relegation zone.”
Here’s what else we learn from Neilson’s press conference...
Injury update...
“(George Baldock) should be fine. He will take part in a little bit of training (on Thursday) and have a full session (on Friday) ready for the game Saturday. (Nicky) Maynard is back training as well. It’s looking good at the moment.”
Reaction to Port Vale’s defeat on Tuesday...
“It helps, to be honest. I was at the game and it was a tight but Coventry scored a couple of good goals. The result was in our favour, yes, but if we look ourselves we won’t need to worry about other teams.”
“We’re going up there to try and win the game,” Neilson told the media. “We want to try and get three points so that we can push up the league again.
“It will be tough, though. They are fighting for their lives and they’ve got a couple of games in hand on teams around them so they’ll still have that hope of getting themselves out of the relegation zone.”
Here’s what else we learn from Neilson’s press conference...
Injury update...
“(George Baldock) should be fine. He will take part in a little bit of training (on Thursday) and have a full session (on Friday) ready for the game Saturday. (Nicky) Maynard is back training as well. It’s looking good at the moment.”
Reaction to Port Vale’s defeat on Tuesday...
“It helps, to be honest. I was at the game and it was a tight but Coventry scored a couple of good goals. The result was in our favour, yes, but if we look ourselves we won’t need to worry about other teams.”
“You always hope when you come in you’re going to win every single game but that’s unrealistic. Hopefully we’ve improved the team and provided a bit more stability to get us to the summer when we can build again and have a real go for next season.”
Assessment of job done so far...
“I don’t think so. It’s just the nature of this time of year. You always have a little period just before Christmas, when people start preparing for the January window, where players are wondering if they are coming or going and if teams are going to come in for them. You have the whole January period where there’s a bit of instability, obviously. You then have two weeks after that where people haven’t moved or got what they want. Then you have a month or two where it’s fine and then it all starts again ahead of the summer. There’s always things going on in the background but it’s just something you’ve got to deal with.
Contract negotiations causing a distraction?
“We picked up a good three points last week and if we can do the same this week then that will be a huge step towards (safety).”
Couple more victories needed to secure League One status...
Assessment of job done so far...
“I don’t think so. It’s just the nature of this time of year. You always have a little period just before Christmas, when people start preparing for the January window, where players are wondering if they are coming or going and if teams are going to come in for them. You have the whole January period where there’s a bit of instability, obviously. You then have two weeks after that where people haven’t moved or got what they want. Then you have a month or two where it’s fine and then it all starts again ahead of the summer. There’s always things going on in the background but it’s just something you’ve got to deal with.
Contract negotiations causing a distraction?
“We picked up a good three points last week and if we can do the same this week then that will be a huge step towards (safety).”
Couple more victories needed to secure League One status...
