Oppositions View - MK Dons

Dons fan...Talks to NCM

How do you assess your sides recent form?

In all honesty, a little disappointing would be an understatement! We've led in every single game so far this season, yet only managed to convert one of those leads into a victory within 90 minutes. The style of football is much improved under Paul Ince but we're conceding too easily, especially from set plays. I understand that it takes a little while to gel when new players come in, but Danny Swailes and Sean O Hanlon are arguably the two best centre backs in the league and shouldn't be getting pulled all over the place by sides like Rochdale. Thankfully the likes of Kevin Gallen and Mark Wright are showing flashes of their potential so as long as we can put the brakes on when it comes to conceding, promotion could still be a possibility.

Who would you say is your key player?

At the moment, it would have to be Club Skipperand Midfield General Keith Andrews. Many Dons fans thought Martin Allen was off his rocker when he

Andrews...leader

gave Andrews the captain's armband as soon as he signed from Hull last season. His performances for most of last season were ordinary at best and at times they bordered on the inept! Strangely enough, things turned around for Keith when Paul Mitchell broke his leg at your place last season. The extra responibility of carrying our midfield while Martin Allen fielded practically the whole squad alongside him in the remaining games allowed him to shine and he hasn't looked back. He's also scoring plenty of goals at the moment and his relationship with the fans has gone through the roof.

Who else should we look out for?

Leon Knight is irresistable at the moment. He's had to wait for his chance in the first team but now Izale McLeod and Clive Platt have left the club he's become our first choice striker and he seems to be loving it. His lack of height is compensated for by his ability to do clever things with the ball. His goal at Macclesfield was straight from the top draw and he's probably at his most dangerous with his back to goal. Right-back Jude Stirling has improved recently and his long-throw has to be seen to be believed. Dean Lewington is just a yard short of good pace to be a Championship

Knight...Irresistable

player but at least his new haircut doesn't draw so much attention to the fact he's ginger!

What is the first thing you think of when you think of Notts County ?

Obviously the oldest club in the world springs to mind, but there's many other fond memories I have of County. I remember your promotion season circa 1981/82 and remember watching you play Chelsea in your last game of the season. I think you beat them 2-0 without breaking into a sweat although the game was marred by several pitch invasions as Chelsea supporters vented their spleen at the existing Chairman, Brian Mears. I also remember getting extremely drunk with some County fans at the Metrodome Centre in Barnsley while I was living up there. I still don't know to this day where you lot put it! Saying that, I've always found County fans to be friendly, courteous and knowledgable. A far cry away from your local rivals who can be a rotten bunch of bastards when they lose! I also heard that Juventus chose their Black and White striped kit as a mark of respect to County. We can't even get our local pub team to stick a Dons shirt on!

Who do you see as the Notts danger men?

After last season, I'd have to stick my money on SpencerWeir-Daley if he gets a place in the starting line up. He had a couple of good loan spells last season and played really well against us when he came on for Lincoln City. I also caught him on TV near the end of the season and he looked very lively. I think he'll be a tremendous asset for you. Stevie Hunt always looks impressive and should have the physical presence to shut out our strikers if

Hunt...Notts' physical presence

he's on top form. Jason Lee is a very experienced striker who has done well to survive the Skinner and Baddiel rubbish from yesteryear and still looks a threat in front of goal. Lee Canoville was being looked at by us earlier this year and I'll interested to see what we're missing! I hear Edwards is out for some time which must be a loss to you, but remember we're without Mitch as well!

How do you rate Notts boss Steve Thompson?

I think it's more a case of what do YOU think of Steve Thompson. I hear his popularity with the fans is being pushed to the limits, which is a shame because he comes accross as a nice bloke. He made some disparaging comments about us after you played us at the National hockey Stadium last year, but you never deserved to have two sent off and the late rally you staged scared the living daylights out of us! I hope Steve Thompson can turn things around for you soon though. County shouldn't be flirting with the Conference. You're still a big club by League 1 and League 2 standards but changing the manager isn't likely to help your cause. I also understand he's recently signed a contract extension so it look like your stuck with him for now anyway. If the Boo-Boys keep off his back long enough to see how the season settles down and you can get back to playing some of the pretty football you were producing last season, I'm sure Steve Thompson and your league status will be safe for some time to come.

Where do you think you will finish this season?

At the moment, I don't think automatic promotion looks within our reach. Until we can learn to close games out we'll continue to drop points and that's what cost us under Martin Allen last term. We might scrape third place but I think the play-offs will be our most likely route into League 1. Financially, we

Ince...Automatic promotion in doubt?

need to get out of this division as quickly as possible. Our new stadium looks great but it's a long way from being finished and crowds aren't exactly going through the roof. If we can hit a play-off spot by Christmas and bolster the squad with a couple of fresh places we may finish the season strongly and get up automatically but the pessimist in me says otherwise!

Where do you think Notts will finish this season?

At best, you might have a chance of finishing in the lower play-off positions but I think mid-table would be a more realistic prediction. Shrewsbury and Peterborough look good this year. We should be somewhere near them and I fancy Morecambe to surprise a few people. Wycombe will have a chance and I think Bury can do well, especially as it looks like Andy Bishop is staying put for now. Notts County will probably be amongst the best of the rest, but a good late run could see you preparing for Wembley!

What is your starting line-up likely to be?

I don't think Ince will make too many changes from yesterdays disappointing result at Rochdale. Kevin Gallen probably did enough to stop Aaron Wilbraham taking his place, although Colin Cameron failed to shine again and looks past his best.

I'd guess the starting line-up would be: Gueret, Lewington, O Hanlon, Swailes, Stirling, Dyer, Andrews (c), Cameron, Wright, Knight, Gallen.

What sort of encounter are you expecting?

Hopefully the game will live up to the two fixtures we played against each other last season. Our last 5 games have finished 3-3, 3-3, 3-0, 2-3, 2-3! If our defence is as comical as it was yesterday, Get ready for a goalfest! I hope the Paul Mitchell incident last season doesn't have any influence on the game and to be honest it shouldn't. I don't believe any professional would deliberately hurt another and, if I remember rightly, Martin Allen did withdraw his original comments about the challenge within hours. I think if both teams can play to their full potential, it'll be a cracker!

Prediction?

I've presented my argument for what should be a lively and free-scoring encounter so it's got to finish 0-0, hasn't it? Seriously, I think your current form will probably means the Dons might shade it by the odd goal in 5!

Dons 3 Notts County 2 - but PLEASE don't put any money on it, eh?