Players warned not to underestimate out-of-position Accrington
MK Dons head coach Paul Warne and midfielder Ben Wiles spoke ahead of Saturday’s game against Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley’s current position in League Two is several spots below where Paul Warne thinks their true abilities lie.
Dons head to Lancashire on Saturday to take on John Doolan’s side, who are sat 14th in the standings having not kicked a ball since New Year’s Day.
Stanley though have lost only twice in their last 11 games, and head into the clash at the Wham Stadium off the back of three wins on the spin. Their poor start to the season, winning only four of their first 16 games - one of them the 2-1 win at Stadium MK in September - has meant they are playing catch-up but with current form, Warne believes they are a team capable of finishing much higher.
“Don’t be fooled by their league position, I think they’re six or seven places better than that,” said the MK Dons head coach. “They just had a difficult start to the season. Apart from beating us, I don’t think they had many wins so I’m under no illusions that this will be anything other than a tough game.
“We’re not underestimating, if anything we’re scaring our players with the footage we have of them.”
Warne continued: “It will be a tough game. We’ve watched three of their games, but they’ve won a lot recently, and picked up more points than us in the last seven games. They’re a bit of a form team in the division.
“They’re really brave, and if they play with a back three, they’re happy to leave you three-vs-three, they go man-for-man all over the pitch, they come after you, they can cross from deep and they have a real energy and vibrance about them.”
Midfielder Ben Wiles added: “It will be a very different game to the one against Oxford. Accrington are fully flat-out, they want to press man-for-man, so it will be different but I’m excited for it, all the lads are. Things are moving in the right direction, we know what talent we have in the dressing room.”