Bonds urges Fleetwood to deny Dons a chance to claim League Two crown
Fleetwood duo Elliot Bonds and boss Matt Lawlor spoke ahead of Saturday’s game with MK Dons
Midfielder Elliot Bonds is keen not to let the final day of the season turn into a title party for MK Dons when they take on Fleetwood on Saturday.
The 26-year-old admitted he and his Cod Army team-mates are looking somewhat enviously at the teams getting promoted this season, and with a lot of disappointment at their own performances this season.
Fleetwood sit 15th in the standings ahead of the season finale, a long way off their expectation of being amongst the play-off contenders at the start of the campaign.
Knowing Dons could lift the League Two trophy at Highbury Stadium on Saturday with victory, Bonds said he and his team-mates are keen to stop that from happening to give themselves a positive end to the season.
“MK Dons could lift the trophy if they win, so we’re going to do our best to stop that party from happening,” he said. “We look at MK Dons and think ‘good on them’ knowing they could win the league but we know we should be higher in the league. There is no point complaining now though, we’ve got to put our money where our mouth is next season.
“Of course we’re disappointed not to get into the play-offs. If we win on Saturday, we’ll have topped last season’s points tally but I don’t want to compete for 15th in the league, especially when you see teams going up.”
Dons have sold out their allocation of tickets for the game in Lancashire, even given a little extra by the hosts as they could potentially claim the title at the last gasp.
Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor urged the home fans to get behind his side in the game, and not to let the vocal travelling Dons support drown them out.
He said: “We need our fans to be what they have been for us all season, and that’s incredibly supportive. I think (MK Dons) have been given a little bit more than usual so we can’t let them drown us out, make sure we’re heard.
“It will be a tough game of course, they’re the potential champions. But we don’t want that to happen on our patch.
“We need them to be loud, proud and to make Highbury a difficult place to come not just for MK Dons but whoever comes here next season too.”