Dons must be 'dogs of war' to battle with Salford City

It may be a watching brief for MK Dons this afternoon, but Mike Williamson will be keeping an eye on League Two while preparing for Monday’s game with Salford City.

Heading up to Manchester on Monday for the night-game, Dons’ head coach said he will try and watch a couple of divisional games today before refocusing his attentions on their next fixture.

“We'll be watching games, I'll try to get to one or two and enjoy that opportunity,” said the head coach. “But all our focus will be on preparing for Salford.”

After picking up their first points of the season last time out with a comfortable 3-0 win over Carlisle, Williamson said the win would mean nothing unless they back it up against Karl Robinson’s side.

He continued: “Points are points, but the way we want to conduct ourselves and where we're looking, it means nothing if we can't back it up.

“We'll keep building on the performances. Goals, clean sheets and wins will come.”

The sides crossed paths for the first time last season, with Dons claiming the spoils in both, winning 4-2 at the Peninsula Stadium and 3-1 at Stadium MK.

Former Dons boss Karl Robinson leads the Ammies, and has seen them pick up two points from their opening three games this term. Williamson believes Robinson will deploy a similar approach to the one he used at Stadium MK in March, looking to out-muscle the visitors and drag them into a physical battle.

“Karl knows the club, and he will have his game plan so we have to make sure ours is water tight,” said Williamson. “We know they will want to rough us up, when they came here they went man-for-man.

“It was really physical, it was open, and it needed a few moments of quality to settle things down. Towards the end, it was more comfortable than it first appeared.

“At their place too, it was an open game. We've got to be dogs of war, we know we'll have to battle because if we don't, then we'll be found wanting. Tactically and technically, we'll have ot show up with that fire.

“We know we'll have to win the battle, and it might take 60, 70 minutes like last time. But we'll focus on how to hurt them in and out of possession.”