Dons 'cannot be involved' in a League Two relegation scrap

MK Dons are not in a relegation scrap, Ben Gladwin insists.

Ten points separate Dons from the trapdoor to the National League with 12 games remaining, a gap which could be closed to as few as seven on Saturday should they lose to Morecambe, who currently sit in the drop zone.

Without a win in their last seven games, picking up just a point in that time, Dons are looking more at the wrong end of the table than they are at the sharper end where they had harboured desires of spending their season.

But with four other teams separating Dons from the relegation zone, interim head coach Gladwin feels the side are not to think they are in the battle for EFL survival.

When asked if Dons are in the relegation fight, he said: “No, I don't, and I hope that doesn't come across as arrogant. I know the results haven't been great recently, but I believe we just have too much to allow ourselves to become a part of that conversation.

“My idea is to take all the pressure off the players, but to let them know that a relegation battle cannot be anything they can be involved in.

“They're too good a group, and they have to make sure, sooner rather than later, that conversation is nowhere near this football club.”

Facing a Morecambe side very much in the fight though, Gladwin said the pressures on a team who are scrapping are tough to navigate as a player, and said his squad need to match the Shrimps’ intensity and do-or-die nature if they are to come out on top on Saturday.

He continued: “I was unfortunate enough to be in a battle with Crawley a few years ago, the first time I've experienced that in my career, and it is horrible.

“These guys have families and bills to pay, so we need to know they are going to go out there and be willing to die out on that pitch. We have to match that as a bare minimum and then we have to bring our quality through. That's part of my messaging in the lead up to the game.”