A look ahead to MK Dons' trip to Crawley Town

MK Dons will cross paths with former head coach Scott Lindsey for the first time since his sacking in March when they take on Crawley Town on Tuesday night.

A miserable run of 11 defeats in 16 matches would ultimately undo Lindsey’s positive start to life at Stadium MK, having been head-hunted to replace Carlisle-bound Mike Williamson last October, and he was sacked in March with the club on course for their lowest ever finish.

Lindsey would return to Crawley Town, and despite picking up ten points from their final four games, were unable to beat to drop to League Two.

The last time the sides met was the now infamous play-off semi-final defeat, which saw the Reds destroy Dons in an historic 8-1 aggregate win, culminating in a 5-1 win at Stadium MK. Dons have been beaten on their last two trips to the Broadfield Stadium, with their last win coming in 2018/19, when they triumphed 4-0. In the 12 meetings between the sides, there is nothing to separate them, with each picking up five wins apiece, with two draws.

Form heading into the game could not be more different though. Dons have picked up seven points from nine and are yet to concede a league goal since Paul Warne took over in April, picking up a dominant 5-0 win over Cheltenham on Saturday. Crawley meanwhile have lost all three of their opening league games, and were beaten 1-0 away at Crewe on Saturday thanks to a goal from Tommi O’Reilly - a man Lindsey signed on loan for Dons from Aston Villa in January.

Referee Stephen Parkinson will take charge of the game. Booking three in his only game of the season so far, he showed 97 yellows and six reds last term. His only Dons game came in February during the 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers at Stadium MK, while Crawley have won both of the games he has overseen. Paul Kelly and James Hurst will run the lines with Fourth Official Ciaran Fidler.

Bookmakers bet365.com have Dons at 4/5 to win the game, with Crawley at 3/1 and 29/10 the draw.