Dons’ recent cup disruptions are a gift and a curse

Liam Manning admitted he is having mixed emotions over the disruption to the league campaign as a result of MK Dons’ cup runs.

The previous brealk in League One came at the wrong time for Manning’s side, with their for picking up before a two week break to incorporate the first round of the FA Cup and then the Carabao Cup second round.

While Dons picked up wins in both, their toils in the league remained lurking in the background, and they have since lost 3-1 in back-to-back games.

Following Saturday’s loss to Barnsley though, Dons again have a two-week break between League One encounters with this Saturday’s FA Cup second round trip to Portsmouth coming after tonight’s Papa John’s Trophy game against Newport County at Stadium MK.

For Manning, the delay in league fixtures for cup games is something of a frustration but he is hoping the next two games can help rebuild some of the momentum they lost in recent games.

He said: “It was frustrating having beaten Charlton and getting a point at Cheltenham that we started to pick up and we wanted momentum in the league.

“So now we've got another period without a league game, but it is what it is, we can't dwell on it.

“We now have to go into the cup games, pick the players up and provide opportunities for someone.”