Jackson’s eager to experience rivalry between Dons and Posh

There is always a little bit of extra spice when MK Dons and Peterborough lock horns, and Dons boss Mark Jackson is excited to see it.

While Posh sit eighth to Dons’ 21st in League One, the pair’s form of late is much the same, with Grant McCann’s side losing five of their last six, while Dons have lost three, drawn one and won two in a row heading to the Weston Homes Stadium. Dons too know a third win in succession could well lift them out of the bottom four, having closed the gap from six points to just one.

Just 55 miles separate the stadiums, and there have been 29 meetings between the sides down the years, with some memorable clashes in that time too, from the play-off campaign in 2010/11 to Dons’ thumping 4-0 win in 2017.

Experiencing the game for the first time, Jackson feels rivalry games such as these must enjoyed, especially over the Christmas period.

“I like derbies, game where there is a little bit on them,” he said. “Every game should be like that. And having a little bit of a rivalry is good for everyone, the fans who are coming up to support it.

“We know it will be a strong test, we know the physicality needed for the festive period is a challenge too. But we’ve got a good squad, players chomping at the bit to fight for a starting position and we’ve got players who can come off the bench to really impact it. We need to be ready, atuned to the game and give everything for the club.

“We're under no illusions that it will be tough.We've done a lot of work in a short period of time for this game, so we're alligning it with how we want to approach the game. It's been a short turnaround but we've worked hard on it.”