MK Dons boss Paul Warne spoke ahead of Saturday’s game against Luton Town

After a heavy defeat, Paul Warne reckons the home game against Luton Town is the ideal game for MK Dons to bounce back in.

The 5-1 thumping at the hands of Reading left Dons sat 23rd in League One, still seeking their first win of the season after picking up six draws in eight games since their return to the third tier.

Taking on Luton though for the first time in the league since 2005 is, according to the Dons boss, the perfect fixture for his side to make amends to the supporters.

“Every game is massive to us at this point, but after a 5-1 home defeat, this is possibly, weirdly, a perfect game for us,” he said. “It’s a game against a team that is local, a team that will bring a big following, it will engage our fans to sing against them and it will have a big game feel to it. In those sorts of games, we’ve done well in the most part since I’ve been here.”

While the sides have only played each other three times since 2004, and not at all since 2018, the online vitriol between the fanbases has escalated the clash into one which is set to be fiercely contested on the pitch as well.

And much like the game against AFC Wimbledon last month, the Dons boss said he is not having to drum up the importance of the game to his players.

Warne said: “I don’t approach the prep in a different way, they’ll all know it’s a local rivalry - they’ve all got GPS in their cars, they know Luton isn’t far away. Virtually every player has played at Luton, Cohen (Bramall) played for them, so we know them.

“The lads are aware (of the rivalry) but they are also aware that we need a good performance and I think that’s their greater concern - that we need to bounce back.”