Accrington boss wants to make up for last Dons defeat

Accrington boss John Coleman wants to make amends for being ‘popped off the park’ at Stadium MK last season.

Dons led 2-0 thanks to a Cameron Jerome brace when the sides met in March, but Accrington scored twice in five minutes to be in line for an unlikely point. Matt O’Riley though popped up in stoppage time to fire in Matthew Sorinola’s cross to win it for the hosts.

“MK Dons play some lovely one-two touch football but we play some good football as well and it will be a good match,” he said.

“Last season they popped us off the park and we didn’t get going and we deservedly got beat. The same thing happened at Crewe last year but we addressed that last weekend and hopefully we will go to MK and address it.

“We have to try and impose our style on the game and make it about us and not about them. When you do that you don’t have to defend as much and you make them worry about you more than you worry about them.”

Accrington head into Milton Keynes fourth in League One, having won three of their opening four matches thus far.

However, following their 0-0 draw and subsequent penalty shoot-out defeat to Oldham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, Coleman admitted he has not been pleased with how his side have played at all this season.

He said: “After every game so far, we are delighted with the points return but I have not been overly happy with the way we have played, there is much more room for improvement and we have got to deliver it.

“Towards the end of games we have not been showing the fitness levels that I want, players get injured and you can’t criticise them for that, it’s just frustrating.

“But I always go into games full of confidence, they are great lads, it’s not for lack of trying, sometimes we are a bit misguided but I can’t fault them and I want them to get the rewards for how they play.”