Charlton Athletic vs MK Dons: Form, odds and stats

Dons were beaten at The Valley last month in the Papa John’s Trophy, but were 1-0 winners when the sides met in League One last term.

MK Dons will look to extend their unbeaten run away from Stadium MK to nine games tonight when they take on Charlton Athletic at The Valley.

Unbeaten on the road in League One since November 23 when they were beaten by a last minute winner at Sheffield Wednesday, Dons have since gone on to pick up 20 points from a possible 27, including vital victories over the likes of Portsmouth, Wycombe and most recently Sunderland.

Dons’ last defeat on the road actually came against Charlton earlier this year, though it was in the Papa John’s Trophy. That night, both sides made significant changes to their ‘regular’ League One sides, with Liam Manning admitting little can be gleaned from that game in early January to take into the clash tonight.

While Dons have seen their form go from strength-to-strength since that game, Charlton have found themselves in indifferent form, losing five of their last ten matches, and three in a row heading into tonight’s fixture. It’s a run which sees them sitting 16th in the table, with only seven league wins at The Valley all term.

The clubs are no strangers to one-another down the years, this clash being the 21st since 2009. Charlton have claimed the spoils in nine of the 20 matches, and Dons have seven wins, two of them at The Valley. Last season’s triumph in the capital was awarded Performance of the Season for Russell Martin’s side.

Troy Parrott and Mo Eisa found the net in the reverse fixture earlier this season, only Manning’s second game in charge and his first win.

Manager Johnnie Jackson is suffering something of a selection crisis too. Sean Clare’s red card in the 4-0 thumping at the hands of Oxford United rules him out for the next three matches, while Conor Washington and one-time Dons target Jayden Stockley are injured, as is former Dons striker Chuks Aneke while Scott Fraser is recovering from Covid.

Dons meanwhile are just waiting on the return of Aden Baldwin but otherwise have a full squad to choose from.

Sam Purkiss takes charge of the game this evening. In 23 games this season Purkiss has dished out 87 yellow cards and four reds. His last Dons game was the ill-fated Carabao Cup game with Bournemouth in August - a game which saw Dons beaten 5-0 amidst speculation surrounding Martin’s switch to Swansea. Anthony Da Costa and Christopher Kidd will run the lines with Fourth Official Paul Howard.

Bookmakers have Dons at 13/8 to win, Charlton at 7/4 and 11/5 the draw.