Expect a different spectacle when Dons meet Bolton

Saturday’s game against Bolton Wanderers will be a barometer for MK Dons’ progress under boss Russell Martin.

The first League One fixture for Martin was the trip to the University of Bolton Stadium back in November. There, despite playing the last 24 minutes with 10 men, and seeing a penalty saved by Lee Nicholls, Daryl Murphy fired home the only goal of the game in stoppage time to deny Dons their first point under the new manager.

"I went down to waste a bit of time, I didn't think it was over. I didn't expect to lose though," he said. "In the first half, we tried to play out a little bit, but not to the extent we do now. For us, it will be a totally different game, because we're a totally different team."

Though Bolton remain rooted to the foot of the table, Martin believes Keith Hill’s side should be higher than they are, having faced a 12-point deduction at the start of the season, and predicts a difficult afternoon at Stadium MK.

“It’s a false dawn, with their deduction and playing the youth team early in the season,” said the Dons boss.

“But they’re tough, their games are tight. They’ve not been on a great run, but they don’t lose big.

“They’ve got experienced players, they’re a team that can hurt others, they can score goals, robust players. It will be tough.

“Their manager has been at this level for a long time, and an assistant who has been a manager at this level and below too.

“But we’re at home, we’ve been good here, we’ll approach the game in the same way we always do, to impose ourselves.

Looking back at the game in Bolton, Martin added: “It was my first league game in charge, and it will be good to see how far we’ve come. It’s not a bad Bolton team.

“But if we bring our style and approach to it, I’m more than confident.”