Following on from a good second half performance on Saturday that saw the Latics grab a share of the spoils against a lively Plymouth side, it’s off down the M1 to Milton Keynes on Tuesday for another League 1 encounter, this time MK Dons will be the opposition, it will be just the 5th meeting between the two clubs.
We managed to catch up with MK Dons supporter and MKD Supporter Association committee member, Colin Butler, who gave us the lowdown on what to expect
1) How's the season so far, Colin. Happy with in-comings/outgoings and the manager?
I think everyone was extremely impressed how we played Doncaster off the park in the first game of the season, especially after losing two times POTY Alex Gilbey and goal scoring machine Rhys Healey. Unfortunately, the same sort of dominance against Crewe came to nothing, but we have steadily seen the MK Way take shape. We have played every team off the park so far, and you can visibly see the players warming to the task and believing in the “Russell Martin Big Picture” as we call it.
Gillingham who have had a good start to the season and unbeaten in 11 on the road never got a sniff at the weekend mainly down to the experienced heads of Lewington and the now fully fit Keogh, the latter adding that much needed steel at the back, and in Jerome we finally have someone that can bully defenders and knows where the net is, and his sidekick Morris looks to be really enjoying playing alongside him.
Most MK fans expected a big signing or two especially after the departures of some experienced players which fans were upset about and we had about £1.5m burning a hole in our pockets. At the moment the player catching everyone’s attention is Scott Fraser, who is far too good at this level and we are all wondering how we managed to get him and on a free.
We believe in Russ, and it’s a job to be patient, but he is the right man for the job, and he gets MK totally and that means a lot to the fans.
2) Hopes for the season.
Tough question as we have lurched emotionally back and forth as we saw the family silver being sold, initially it was a case of anything is better than last year, but if we can keep that improvement going I’d be happy with a nice mid table finish and try and push on next season. If we really do build and improve game by game I wouldn’t rule anything out, and we have the cash in the back pocket when January comes around to add to the squad, despite what many may hope, relegation is not on the agenda.
3) Who is the key player to watch out for?
I think Scott Fraser is going to be a big player in League 1 this year, he can see passes nobody else can, if he can keep that going and lay it on a plate for our strikers, we could upset a lot of teams this season. We played Ipswich a couple of weeks ago and they were hanging on the entire second half, teams will get a shock that’s for sure. If teams concentrate on Fraser, then Sorensen from Stoke City is equally capable of putting in 40-yard passes to feet.
4) Style of play?
Stats out last week showed that the Dons were the Possession Kings of Europe, that included not just British leagues but the Top 5 European Leagues as well.
We like to dominate, play out from the back and pass teams to death, teams have tried to match us but our midfield are very adept at breaking up play, Kasumu in particular in his first full season, he is very young, not a big lad but not bothered about mixing it up with more seasoned pros, expect to see him closing down very quickly and more than likely get booked.
5) Prediction for Tuesday?
The million dollar question, we will dominate possession, that’s not in question, can we take our chances, at the start of the season we created a lot of guilt edged stuff but we couldn’t convert and then shot ourselves in the foot with poor defending, but as mentioned Keogh has taken charge of the back line and we look more secure, and Jerome is a big threat up front.
I want to say we will win, but I think a draw is more likely, Wigan have had a couple of good wins, one most notably against Portsmouth in their own backyard, so I’ll go for 1-1.
Great chatting with you, Colin, thanks very much and we’ll catch up with you again later in the season.
This week's podcast with a preview of the MK Dons v Latics game.
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