Manning calls for Dons to impose themselves against Sheffield Wednesday

The challenge of taking on Sheffield Wednesday is not one lost on Dons head coach Liam Manning, but he believes his side can bounce back from last week’s defeat to Cambridge United.

Both Dons and the Owls are eager to pick up their first wins of the season, with Darren Moore’s side sharing the spoils in their opening game against Portsmouth with a 3-3 draw.

More than 6,000 Wednesday fans are expected at Stadium MK for the match tomorrow - the first home game in Milton Keynes since Dons’ play-off semi-final second leg against Wycombe Wanderers in May.

Following four games of the Women’s European Championships held at Stadium MK, this week was first time the first team have been able to get back to familiar territory, and trained on the newly laid surface on Wednesday to acclimatise.

Though the season did not get off to a good start from Dons’ point of view, beaten last Saturday by Cambridge, Manning says his side are eager to put it behind them and bounce back, starting this weekend.

“It's a big afternoon everyone should look forward to,” he said. “There will be a good noise in the place, the pitch is looking fantastic and the players have trained really well this week.

“We have to bounce back as a group now, and I'm confident we can go into the game tomorrow we'll step up and deliver 'us'.

“We know about Sheffield Wednesday, the size of the club, the fanbase, the fact they are recruiting players from teams going up to the Championship, but for me it's about us, trying to impose our style, and play with a bit of confidence, style and energy and get on the front foot. That's when we're at our best.

“Darren has done a terrific job there, and they finished the season extremely strongly. You can pick out certain trends and qualities because they'll be the same, it won't one a drastic change.

“We will give the players the most important parts of what the opposition does and how we can get success against that.”