U’s must “attack and try to win” in relegation battle with Dons

Fellow relegation strugglers Cambridge United must attack MK Dons when the sides meet at Stadium MK on Saturday, according to manager Mark Bonner.

The sides are level on 30 points, mired in the drop zone and in desperate need of points to get out of the bottom four.

The U’s have picked up just six points since the turn of the year, but with their League One fate hanging in the balance, Bonner says Cambridge have little option but to be on the front foot to try and secure their first ever win at Stadium MK.

“It’s a game we’ve got to go and attack and try to win and they’ll be in exactly the same boat,” he said. “Them being at home, we know that adds extra pressure. The pressure is on them to win and we’ve got that same intent on us, but they’ll obviously have the home backing to put them under that extra pressure.

“They’ll have to cope with that and I think we’ll have nearly 2,000 (fans) there, which is great. We’ve had a couple of horrible trips there in recent seasons but the difference this year is that both teams have had a very, very tough year. Whereas in the previous years we’ve been going up against a tough team that was going for promotion and got promoted in one of those – and almost got promoted last season.

“It’s certainly a different dynamic this time around where both teams are and the seasons that both teams are having. The pressure is on both of us really to go and deliver and put on a performance.

“We’re buoyed by the performance levels – frustrated by the results – but we’ve got plenty of energy left in us to go and fight it out.”