By Callum Burgess – @calstagram123 – writer for the MK Fellas – @mkfellas
Milton Keynes Dons will travel to Edgeley Park on Saturday, knowing that a win will put them two points above their promotion rivals, Stockport County in League Two.
Stockport County last played on Monday to try and catch up on their games in hand in the league, where they were pegged back by a late equaliser from 9th-placed Crawley Town, in a game that ended in a 1-1 scoreline.
Elsewhere, Mike Williamson’s side won 3-1 against Crewe Alexandra where Matthew Dennis’ brace and Stephen Wearne’s goal were enough to open a three point gap over the Railwaymen to push into fourth place.
The Hatters have already beaten the Dons in the reverse fixture at StadiumMK, where goals from Louie Barry and Nick Powell were scored either side of Mo Eisa’s equalising strike. Despite having 56% possession, the Dons could not grab an equaliser, and the away side walked away with all three points with a 2-1 win.
Stockport fell into non-league in 2011 after previously spending 106 years in the football league, where they returned in the 2022/23 season.
They finished fourth place last season where they were only four points behind Northampton Town, who took the final automatic promotion spot.
After beating Salford City on penalties to reach the playoff final, they were beaten in a 5-4 penalty shootout to Carlisle United, who took the final promotion place.
They started the current season in League Two with the same ambitions as the previous year, where Stockport County could go one point behind Mansfield Town in 1st if they win their game in hand.
Dave Challinor is currently manager of Stockport County and has branded this as a game that “both teams have to win”.
Their form has dropped massively since their 12 match winning streak last autumn, winning only six games in their last nineteen matches.
Although they are struggling, this does suggest the quality that the side possesses and big injuries have caused their season to falter in the latter stages.
This could prove to be a massive game for MK Dons, who will also be welcoming playoff hopefuls, Walsall, to StadiumMK on Friday.
Stockport County will also have to play AFC Wimbledon, with a big crunch game coming on the final day of the season, where they will travel to the Racecourse to play Wrexham in a game that could decide who gets that final promotion place.
The Greater Manchester based team boast an impressive player roster this season so it is not a shock to see how well they have performed in this current League Two campaign. They have players such as Callum Camps, Antoni Sarcevic, Fraser Horsfall, and Paddy Madden, who all offer great EFL experience for the team.
Their striker, Isaac Olaofe, has also been a great player this season for County, scoring 18 goals and grabbing two assists over 38 different matches, which means the MK Dons defence will have to be at the very top of the game to stop him from influencing the match.
The game will kickoff at a later time of 5:15pm as the game was picked by Sky Sports to be broadcasted live on their channel, in what I believe to be MK Dons’ first televised match this season.
Milton Keynes Dons form
L W W L W
Stockport County form
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Team News
After Dan Kemp suffered a shoulder injury in the dying minutes of the game against Crewe Alexandra, he was sent for a scan to see the true extent of the issue so it isn’t very likely that he will be able to play on Saturday.
There is some more positive injury news for the Dons this week, as Filip Marschall, Max Dean, and Jack Tucker have all returned to full training and could be in contention to play at Edgeley Park.
It is certainly an interesting problem for Williamson to deal with as Matthew Dennis and Michael Kelly have both been in amazing form recently, so it will be interesting to see if anyone replaces them.
I do believe that these players will all be present on the substitute bench, but I think it would be harsh to put them straight back, as their replacements have done brilliantly in their absences.
Louie Barry has been out with a hamstring injury and Nick Powell has not featured for Stockport County recently either, suggesting that he has also picked up an injury.
Ethan Bristow and Macauley Southam-Hales will also miss the fixture, with the latter out for the rest of the season after suffering a patella tendon injury against Harrogate Town in February.
Milton Keynes Dons predicted lineup: Kelly, Williams, O’Hora, Harvie, Lofthouse, Payne, Bate, Tomlinson, Wearne, Gilbey, and Dennis.
Stockport County predicted lineup: Hinchiffe, Touray, Pye, Horsfall, Kane, Sarcevic, Camps, Bailey, Richards, Olaofe, and Wooton.
Prediction
Call me an optimist, but I am weirdly confident about MK Dons taking all three points against Stockport County.
MK Dons are weirdly inconsistent at times, but they take games against promotion rivals very seriously, and I do think that their form has been much better than the form of Stockport County.
I respect that Dave Challinor’s team have had many injuries plague them and I believe I would have had more worries if they had their full strength team, but that is only something that will be a benefit to the away side.
The expansive tactics that Mike Williamson employs will prove hard to deal with for a side that have only won one in their last five games.
Prediction: Stockport County 1-3 Milton Keynes Dons
