Form goes out the window in the FA Cup, Manning warns ahead of Stevenage game

Form counts for nothing in the FA Cup, Liam Manning has warned ahead of MK Dons’ first round game with Stevenage on Saturday.

Alex Revell’s side have struggled to score and keep goals out at the other end this season, sitting 21st in League Two, firing blanks in their last four games while conceding 11 - most recently losing 5-0 away at Newport County.

Despite the turmoils the former Dons striker is having in charge of Stevenage, Manning said form goes out the window in the one-off affair that is FA Cup football and that his side have to be wary of the Boro.

“Irrespective of what’s happening there, they’ll be a threat,” he said. “They’ll come here and try to pose problems for us. We have to match their work-rate, their competitiveness.

“We’ve watched them a few times, we do our research. In a competition like this, it’s a one-off game and to an extent, form becomes irrelevant. It’s an opportunity for them to come here and play as a bit of a free hit. We have to be prepared for that.

“We’ve looked into what they do, their style and what we think they’ll do but then we switch back to us and work out how we’ll be good enough to adapt and impose ourselves on the game.”