Grant wants to make life hard for Manning when he picks his teams

After bagging a brace at the weekend, Conor Grant wants to force his way back into Liam Manning’s plans at MK Dons.

The 21-year-old Irishman, who signed from Rochdale in the summer, has four goals to his name this season but has struggled to lock down a consistent spot in the side.

His double off the bench on Saturday gave Liam Manning food for thought, the head coach admitted, and Grant now wants to continue to give him a headache.

He said: “The gaffer and the coaching staff have been encouraging me to be more relentless when I have the target in front of me and I’ve been focusing on trying to provide more for the team.

“I haven’t had the minutes that I would’ve liked to have, but that’s my job to make the gaffers line-up decisions as hard as I can. Then, I need to take my chance when it comes.”

Taking on Morecambe this evening, Dons are eyeing up a spot in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, adding to their FA Cup progression on Saturday, while they await their Papa John’s Trophy fate when the draw is made on Friday.

And Grant, who scored his second goal of the season when the sides met at the Globe Arena back in August, hopes their good cup form this season will continue at Stadium MK tonight.

“The previous cup results have been great for us,” he continued. “Hopefully, we can continue that form (against Morecambe) and get a good result.

“We’re expecting a tough challenge and I think it will be a completely different game to when we last faced them in the league.”