Richie Barker and Dan Crowley looked ahead to MK Dons’ Monday night clash with Walsall

Writing off Walsall despite their poor run of late would be a huge mistake for MK Dons.

The Saddlers have won just one of their last ten games in League Two, seeing them drop out of the play-off spots to ninth place ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

It is a similar to the one Walsall played out last season too. At one stage 14 points clear at the top of the league, Mat Sadler’s men won just four of their remaining 24 games, but held onto a play-off spot, losing out in the final at Wembley.

They made a solid start to this season too, including beating Dons 1-0 at Stadium MK in August, but have had a turn since Christmas, falling away from the top seven.

Dons head to Pallet-Track Bescott Stadium on Monday to take Walsall on in a good run of form themselves, unbeaten in League Two since New Year’s Day, putting them well in the hunt for automatic promotion.

Despite the difference in form heading into the game though, assistant head coach Richie Barker said writing off Walsall could be a huge mistake.

“They’re not on a great run but they were good on Wednesday night before having a man sent off (in their draw with Grimsby). Anyone who thinks Walsall are on their way down though, I’d suggest that’s not the case. Everyone has spells like that, it depends when it comes as to how much of an impact it will have on your season. Walsall are having theirs but a bigger thing is being made of it because of what happened last year.

“Mat Sadler is a very good manager and has done a good job there. He played for me at Crawley, so I’ve got a soft spot for him, he was brilliant for me. I’m sure he’ll go on to have a great career.

“We owe them one off the back of the result earlier in the season.”

Midfielder Dan Crowley added: “They’re a good team. When we played them earlier this season, I was really impressed. They’ve got willing runners, they work hard on the ball, it won’t be easy.

“But no games are easy. Crawley are down at the bottom but that was a really hard game to come into. They’re good going forward, good on the ball, man-for-man pressing.

“So no game will be easy now, but we have to respect the opposition, focus on ourselves and hopefully get the three points.”