Jacko isn’t expecting Fleetwood to be ‘on the beach’ on Saturday

Mark Jackson is not expecting towels and suntan lotion to take on a Fleetwood Town side ‘on the beach’ on Saturday.

Scott Brown’s side have secured their midtable status in the division heading into the final knockings, safe from the threat of relegation and unable to make a last-ditch effort to get into the play-offs. That is not to say they will have their feet up when MK Dons head to the Highbury Stadium.

Jackson believes the ‘on the beach’ phrase is something of a falsehood, with sides always fighting for something, and he does not for a second expect Fleetwood to have their eyes on their holidays tomorrow afternoon.

“I think it's a myth in football,” he said. “Professional footballers are playing for pride, to stay in the team, for contracts, and they have a professional pride every time they go out.

“The manager will be demanding of them, he'll want to finish as high up the table as they can. They'll come out and be aggressive, they'll want to play and win.”

Dons know a win against the Cod Army will go a way to helping their own fight for survival, though Jackson said his side will be in for a tough time if they are not on their game.

He continued: “Fleetwood are an aggressive powerful team. They've got centre-backs who like to step in and play the ball, so we've had to look at various different things approaching this game, in and out of possession.

“Our time has been limited this week with the midweek game, but we've looked at video, did some work on the trining ground and come 3pm tomorrow we'll be ready to go.”