Manning eyes big name draw as reward for Dons’ recent turnaround

A big-name draw in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup would be a worthy reward for MK Dons after starting to turn around their poor start to the season, Liam Manning believes.

His side cruised comfortably into Thursday’s draw with a routine 2-0 win over Morecambe, thanks to goals in each half from Warren O’Hora and Matt Dennis, while restricting their opponents to a solitary shot on goal all night.

Having booked their spot in the knock-out round of the Papa John’s Trophy, and the second round of the FA Cup, Manning would love to see his side paired with a top flight side in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup as a reward for their recent upturn in form.

Dons are no strangers to Premier League opposition in the League Cup - having faced Liverpool in 2019, and humbling Manchester United in 2014.

“It would be great for the lads, especially after our run to give them a lift,” he said. “But who we get, we get. We've got to take some of our cup form now into the league games at the weekend.”

On the game, he said: “It was a solid performance, in the first half especially. We started the game well, we set the tone early on and had two really good chances in the first six minutes.

“We had really controlled and purposeful possession. We restricted them to very few chances and looked really dangerous.”

The win - their third in four matches - not only saw Dons progress, but was also the club’s fourth clean sheet in a row, having kept out Charlton, Cheltenham and Taunton prior.

With the visit of Derby County to Stadium MK on Saturday, Manning feels the newly found defensive confidence should give his side confidence going into the League One encounter.

He added: “It's a few now in a row, and we have to take that form into the weekend. We defend from the front better, and in games recently you can see we're coming together to be harder to beat.

“But we've got to keep going, turn up week-in, week-out and deliver what we have done in the last few.”