The former Wolves and Sunderland front man is surprised MK Dons aren’t in the top three

Ex-EFL striker Don Goodman thinks teams are raising their games when the face MK Dons in League Two this season.

Paul Warne’s side are heading into the Christmas period sitting fifth in the table, six points behind leaders Walsall and four back from the automatic promotion spots after picking up just a point from their last two games.

Former Wolves striker Goodman backed Dons for promotion this season, and admits he is surprised to see them outside of the automatic promotion places at this point in the season.

But he also cited his time at Molineux as a potential reason for Dons’ inconsistent form of late.

Speaking to CasinoHawks, he said: “It's a surprise because I tipped them for promotion. I thought when they won four in a row between the end of September and mid-October, I thought that's it, they're on the march now.

“But inconsistency is just costing them. Across the last seven games, they have won two, drawn three, lost two and that really surprises me because the amount of experience Paul Warne added to the squad during the window. There were lots of players that have played at a higher level. So, I'm really surprised that they've been so inconsistent.

“One of the factors that may contribute to that is maybe they're everybody's cup final in League Two. Teams coming to that nice stadium, and everybody knows they're the big spenders.

“I felt it when I played for Wolves in the Championship. You got the feeling that everybody wanted to, you know, put you down and beat you because you were the club spending the money. Maybe there's an element of that.”

Warne’s side have a difficult run over Christmas, taking on some of the division’s fellow big-hitters. Should they come out of it well though, Goodman thinks they will kick on.

He continued: “I think the next five games are huge because they play Swindon Town, Notts County and Chesterfield across the next five games. And they need to come through that with some morale boosting victories over some of those better teams, I would say.”

Don Goodman was speaking to CasinoHawks