Journey for Dons is just beginning ahead of Stockport clash

Graham Alexander has been pleased to see how his side have progressed against some established teams in League Two already this term.

While the likes of Wrexham, Notts County and this Saturday’s opponents Stockport County have been together as a squad for a while now, Dons have been through a significant shake-up this summer with the arrival of the new boss.

After beating Wrexham on the opening day of the season and drawing with County last Saturday, Dons take on the Hatters at Stadium MK tomorrow (Saturday) after they narrowly missed out on securing back-to-back promotions last season.

Alexander said: “They’ve been on a similar run to Wrexham and Notts County of securing promotion from the National League and continuing that momentum, but they had that disappointment of losing in the play-offs last season.

“Over the last two seasons, they've won a lot of games, they have a lot of support and it's a big club. They've got a manager who knows how to win, he's always made winning teams whenever I've come up against Dave (Challinor, Stockport manager).

“We’ve been together for seven games and matched Notts County last week who have been together for 14-16 months, so think about what a good team we could be if we keep improving, we could be a formidable team. But we can’t afford to look that far ahead yet, we have to win the game right now.

“The challenge is there for us, but we have to make sure it's there for us as well. They'll come here knowing we're a good team. We're building and getting better.”

County currently sit 17th in League Two after a mixed start to the season following last term’s disappointment, but have picked up four points from their last two games, head to Milton Keynes in decent form.

Defender Jack Tucker added: “It will be a really tough test. They've recruited well in the summer, they're a big club in League Two and last season they had a really good team who were unlucky to miss out.

“We're fully prepared for that, but we want to take three points.”