Consigning Dons' away-day curse to history ahead of trip to Accrington

It seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago, but MK Dons have won three consecutive games on the road.

Prior to their win over Sunderland on November 14, it had been 14 months since their last league victory away from home. And they had celebrated only one other road win, coming in the Papa John's Trophy against Stevenage five weeks earlier.

Since then, Dons have beaten the Black Cats, Barnet in the FA Cup and then Charlton Athletic on Wednesday. The FA Cup victory over Eastleigh, albeit on penalties after a 0-0 draw, could also be included to make it four in a row.

Dons will be out to make it three consecutive League One victories in a row when they face Accrington on Saturday, and all talk of their away-day troubles have been laid to rest. Manager Russell Martin though believes putting a run of victories together will help their climb up the table significantly.

He said: "We need back-to-back wins, it makes a huge difference to where you are in the league given how tight it is, and tomorrow, we're going to try and do that.

"It's been a tough run of fixtures, but if Wednesday can't give the players the belief, if Sunderland can't give the players belief, especially away from home, I don't know what will."

It will be no easy feat to see off Stanley though, who have made a decent start to their League One campaign. Sitting ninth in the table, John Coleman's side could be challenging for the automatic promotion spots should they win their games in hand over the rest of the division, and haven't lost in the league for nearly two months. Like Dons did a week earlier, they drew 2-2 with Shrewsbury on Wednesday night, needing a last minute equaliser to salvage a point.

They're good, and if you look at the points they've got and the games in hand, they'll be right up there if they win them," Martin continued. "They benefit from having a way of doing things, a manager in place and a core group of players for a long time so they know exactly what they're about. They play with a lot of energy.

"It's a tough place to go but we know exactly what we're facing. Whoever we're playing at the moment, we have to make sure we're 'us' as much as we can be and turn it into a game we want it to be."