Holloway hopes to capitalise on Dons' FA Cup defeat with Swindon

Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway believes Scott Lindsey will be feeling the pressure after last Sunday’s defeat to AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup.

The 2-0 loss at Stadium MK is only the second defeat MK Dons have suffered since the head coach took over in September, come off the back of three wins in a row - a run which has lifted the side into eighth in the standings.

Holloway, who took over at the County Ground a couple of weeks ago with the side labouring in 22nd in League Two, has overseen wins against Colchester in the FA Cup and Tottenham U21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy this week.

And after losing to their rivals last week, Holloway said of Lindsey: “If he gets under a bit of pressure - he lost to AFC Wimbledon last week, that can’t be good for him, so who knows how they are but it will be about us and where are we in our heads.

“We have MK Dons who just lost a cup game, we won ours, so what are we scared of?”

Holloway, whose managerial career began nearly 30 years ago, admitted he never imagined teams trying to play in a formation and style akin to the way Lindsey wants Dons to play, drawing comparison to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s approach as opposed to a more traditional one.

He continued: “Pep has brought all of this with him because we all used to play 4-4-2 but they are 3-box-3, I had never heard of that and never thought I would hear that. MK Dons will definitely try and do that under Scott Lindsey.

“What I want to do is get our players to be tied to the ball and think about if we can outnumber them and move it and from there it is exciting.”

Holloway added: “[Off the ball work is important] particularly at their ground, I have heard that they go a little bit longer now depending on what the situation is.

“I have seen a lot of shapes in my time and the new goal kick rule has changed things but it is about numeration – where are their players, how many of them are there, can we get enough people around the ball to outnumber them to snap on and win it back?”