The MK Dons head coach spoke ahead of this evening’s game against Notts County

It is a familiar stomping ground for MK Dons head coach Paul Warne when his side lock horns with Notts County later this evening.

A graduate of the University of Nottingham, Warne has fond memories of watching football at Meadow Lane in the late 80s and early 90s, but has only crossed paths with them once since beginning his career as a manager.

The Magpies sit just a point and a place behind Dons in League Two, with fourth taking on third, both keen on an automatic promotion spot ahead of the weekend’s fixtures and the run up to Christmas.

Ahead of the game, Warne said: “I used to go to university in Nottingham, I lived in West Bridgford which isn’t far from the all the grounds, and I went to watch Newcastle play there in the late 80s, early 90s, and it was a sell-out. It was brilliant.

“It’s always been a great club, I know their ambitions. They’re having a really great season, because I think we are and they’re bang on where we are. It shows what a good team they are and how good we’ll have to be if we are to get near them.”

“We’ll have to set up against a really well-coached team. (Boss Martin Paterson) has them playing really well. They’re a lot more athletic than previous Notts County teams, in my opinion, though I’ve not studied them in depth over the years. They’re a good age, they all understand their roles and it’s always a tough place to go.”

With Dons having lost just once in the league since late September, a run which has seen them climb to third ahead of kick-off, Warne said his squad are in buoyant mood ahead of the game.

He continued: “The mood and motivation of the camp is paramount to me, and we’re in a good place. All that does is set us up to hopefully perform at a level that makes us hard to beat.

“We all know though football is random. If you’re playing well and winning most weeks, you always think you’ll win but when you lose every week, you can’t see where the next win will come from. The reality is somewhere in the middle.

“If we don’t perform on Tuesday, we just have to go again on Saturday.”