MK Dons can make it 10 points out of 12 if they beat Bury at Gigg Lane this afternoon.
Robbie Neilson’s side are one of the form sides in Sky Bet League One over recent times, having won two and drawn one of their last three matches.
Their run has seen them climb into the top half of the division and they currently sit four points adrift of the play-off places heading into the final match of September.
The Dons have won two of their last three away matches while they also boast a strong record at Gigg Lane – they’ve never lost to the Shakers in Greater Manchester and have enjoyed some memorable victories too.
Kick-off today is at 3pm.
Bury ended a 10-game winless run in all competitions with their convincing win over Oxford United in midweek.
Lee Clarke’s men occupy 19th place in the Sky Bet League One table with nine points to their name from two victories and three draws. Both those triumphs have occurred at Gigg Lane – a place they’ve lost at twice in the league this season.
Despite their standing, they do hold a respectable goals total, having netted 12 times in their 10 league matches. Six of those have come courtesy of experienced striker Jermaine Beckford – nobody else in the side has netted more than once in the league.
The Dons were unable to make it three straight wins as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Northampton Town.
Gboly Ariyibi had the best chance of the first half, firing just wide with a terrific left-footed drive from distance.
Lee Nicholls denied substitute and former Don Dean Bowditch after the break, while the men from MK1 also threatened with Aaron Tshibola, Aidan Nesbitt and Kieran Agard.
However, neither they nor the Cobblers could get on the scoreboard which meant both sides were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
Bury secured their first win since the opening weekend of the season in style, thrashing Oxford United 3-0 at Gigg Lane.
All the goals came in the second half for the Shakers, who did go close in the first 45 through Michael Smith and Jermaine Beckford.
It was Chris Maguire, though, who would break the deadlock – converting from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.
Smith bundled in a second for the Greater Manchester outfit, who later made it three when Beckford headed in a Chris Humphrey cross.
Robbie Neilson: “They’ve got good experience. They’ve got (Jermaine) Beckford up front along with Maguire and Smith. Those three are good players for this level and they’ve carried them through in the last couple of weeks.
“It was a tough place last year when we went up there and drew. We know it’s going to be a tough game but I believe it’s an opportunity for us to go and get three points. We’ll be looking to get there and play better football than we did on Tuesday night and get the result.”
Jermaine Beckford: “They should be worrying about us more than us worrying about them. I’m not taking anything away from them saying they’re not any good, I think they are pretty good, but I also back my team-mates.
“We have got a real togetherness and the last couple of results, you can see the team bonding. You can see we’re prepared to fight for one another and it’s paying off. We are going to push on at the weekend and continue to take it game by game.”
Today's game may come too soon for Dons duo Joe Walsh (knee) and Chuks Aneke (hamstring) although there is more optimism that the latter could feature in some capacity.
Peter Pawlett (knee) remains sidelined but is expected to return to training next week.
Bury have a number of injury concerns heading into Saturday’s match.
Goalkeeper Joe Murphy could be out for up four weeks while defender Nathan Cameron may miss the next two months with a hamstring issue.
Eoghan O'Connell, Jay O'Shea and Andrew Tutte have all returned to training this week but are still some way off first-team action.
Craig Jones, Danny Mayor and Stephen Dawson are also sidelined.
Michael Salisbury will referee this afternoon's game at Gigg Lane.
Salisbury, who has never officiated the Dons or Bury before, has taken charge of seven matches this campaign and produced 13 yellow cards. He has yet to make a sending off.
His assistant referees are Andrew Newbold and Duncan Street while the fourth official is Michael Denton.
Dons wins: 5
Dons wins at Gigg Lane: 3
Last Dons win: 4-1, 22 Sep 2012 (Gigg Lane)
Biggest Dons win: 5-1, 2 Feb 2008 (Gigg Lane)
Draws: 3
Draws at Gigg Lane: 2
Last draw: 0-0, 14 Feb 2017 (Gigg Lane)
Bury wins: 2
Bury wins at Gigg Lane: 0
Last Bury win: 3-1, 27 Sep 2016 (Stadium MK)
Result
Dons win – 19/10
Draw – 12/5
Bury win – 7/5
First goalscorer
Kieran Agard – 11/2
Osman Sow - 11/2
Ryan Seager – 6/1
Gboly Ariyibi – 13/2
No goalscorer – 17/2
Jermaine Beckford – 9/2
Chris Maguire – 6/1
Nicky Ajose – 6/1
Michael Smith – 6/1
Scorecast
Gboly Ariyibi to score first and MK Dons to win 1-0 – 35/1
Sky Bet tip
Exactly two goals have been scored in both of MK Dons’ last two away games.
Two goals to be scored – 9/4
*all odds correct at the time of writing
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Supporters living outside the UK can watch the match LIVE with an iFollow MK Dons Season/Monthly Pass or by purchasing a Match Pass – click here for more information!
iFollow MK Dons will have also live commentary of the game for UK-based fans – click here to sign up for as little as £4.49 for a month or £45 for the season!
Supporters can also stay in touch with the Dons via mkdons.com’s Match Centre, which can be accessed by visiting the home page from 1pm.
There will also be full coverage on the Club’s social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat!
A full match report will be available to view on mkdons.com straight after the final whistle.
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Tickets for today's with Bury are priced at £20 adults, £14 seniors/under-23s, £10 under-18s and £5 under-12s while under-5s go FREE.
Tickets can now only be bought from the turnstiles at Gigg Lane, cash only.
