Promotion aspirations for Bate this season with MK Dons

Automatic promotion is the name of the game for MK Dons' Lewis Bate this season.

The 21-year-old, on loan from Leeds United, has featured in four games since signing from Elland Road, starring in two wins and two defeats, most recently the 1-0 reverse at Barrow last Saturday.

With Dons in the play-off spots, five points from the automatic promotion places, Bate believes the mentality in the squad at the moment is one determined to drive towards the top three.

"Every day we come into training, and we're playing towards promotion," he said. "In my head, I want automatic promotion, if not then play-offs. Every time we go out on the pitch, we want three points for that battle.

"It's personal at the moment when we lose. We hated coming off the field on Saturday. When we win, the mood is great. The more wins we get, the more we progress as a team, hopefully we get automatic promotion.

"It hurts when we lose, I don't think there's a game we've gone into where we think we can't win. Teams are starting to realise how good we are on the ball especially, but off the ball I think we can be better. With how good we are on the ball, that other side can be neglected a little bit. But in the next few games, we go and batter a few teams."

Taking on Accrington Stanley this Saturday, Bate added: "It will be a tough game, but we'll be at home in front of our fans, and hopefully we'll go and get three points."