Dons must overcome an eight-point gap with four games to go if they are to win the League Two title

Winning the League Two title might be too far out of MK Dons’ reach with four games to go, Paul Warne admits.

While his side could close the gap to leaders Bromley to five points on Saturday when the sides meet at Stadium MK at 12.30pm, Warne knows Dons need others to help them in their cause if they are to overcome the deficit in the remaining few weeks.

A few weeks ago, going after top spot was firmly on Dons’ agenda but after stuttering to two points from a possible 12, the head coach admitted talk of the title has been pushed back down the agenda.

“It’s always about promotion,” he said. “I tell the lads to always look up the table, not down it. You can’t affect anything other than yourselves, first and foremost, but we’re chasing Bromley.

“Realistically, our chances of taking the title off them are a lot slimmer than they were four games ago. Can we still do it? Of course we can, but we’ll need to win all four now and in this cauldron of pressure it’s more difficult to win back-to-back games. It’s a difficult time to win, but that’s the same for Bromley, Cambridge, Notts County, all the teams at the top.”

Though fellow promotion rivals Cambridge take on Bromley next week, Warne said even others taking points off Bromley may work against his side, adding: “It’s a big if, but if we beat Bromley, their next game is against Cambridge and if they lose again, we look a bit closer. But a Cambridge win might not be ideal for us. So you can go insane (with the connotations). It’s best to just worry about ourselves and hope for a bit of lady luck.

“Promotion has always been our aim, that’s the cake. The title is the cherry, and if you can get the title, that would be amazing. That will look after itself. If we win all our games, we still need other teams to join the party and help.”