DPL v MK Dons

It always seemed a bit of a cheek for the footballers of SW19,or is it SW17, to seize “Don" and use it as their name when there are 4 proper Dons (as opposed to “….dons". We have our Rugby League team who were founded long before the old Wimbledon got into the football league. When it comes to rivers, ours is the shortest of the 3 at 69 miles, Aberdeen’s is just over 80 and the Russian one associated with the epic Russian novel “Quiet Flows the Don" extends to 1100. Not surprisingly I’ve never read the novel in question which is about Cossacks and violent events around the time of the Russian Revolution.

However the footballers of Milton Keynes cannot be blamed for stealing the name.

I suppose my objective in previewing matches is to find reasons for putting an optimistic slant on what we know. Fundamentally there is more pressure on Rovers to haul themselves out of the rut, than on MKD to continue their current impressive 9-match unbeaten run.

It is tempting to look at who they have beaten and hope it doesn’t include any really good teams - and it doesn’t, but they have taken out several which got the better of Rovers - for instance Swindon, Salford and Morecambe (who, incidentally have done nothing impressive since beating us).

From a distance, and from the viewpoint of their fans, they would expect to beat a side like Rovers, struggling way below them in the table. The reality is that league position is not an entirely reliable indicator.

But how will we cope? We all know our record in sustaining good form has been bad and we really need a sustained recovery. The good thing is that we do have someone in charge who is generally considered good at football management. What he needs is a good team which is match-fit and it is most fortunate that we have Terry Bramall who is prepared to provide funds which will be used next month for reinforcements.

We will hope that the Mansfield game will prove to be the turning point. It showed that we can produce football that can rival the best in our league and we will be entitled to be disappointed if we do not produce it again tomorrow. In my book, MKD’s recent record will be no excuse for us not winning and maybe for once I won’t be wrong.

It looks like the popular Mr Jones will be in goal which is a drawback and let’s hope Anderson and Olowu won’t make any major blunders and that Close does a bit more work in midfield, that Molyneux’s decision-making will be better than usual, that Faal will play well etc., etc. In short, we need 100% concentration and application and none of the drifting around doing the minimum like we saw in those 3 disastrously lazy performances prior to Christmas.

They are not forgiven by me and I think a lot of us are tired of being let down by so many of the players who have some ground to make up before they can be removed from the “mercenaries" category. I’d give Ironside the wages of most of his teammates after the way they disgraced themselves in those 3 matches.

So 2-0 (Ironside)