[Archived] Mk Dons @ Stadium Mk, Saturday October 17Th 15:00 Ko

[Mark Atkins' Bald Patch]

I tried to find an update on Corry Evans availabilty just now, I wasn't aware he was doubtful.

What's the info on Evans please Joey? cheers.

[Gav]

Had this one pencilled in for an away day, but sadly we now can't make it.

I don't think we'll get beat, some decent signs in recent weeks, so I'll go for a 1-1 draw, but I'd love a 2-1 for travelling fans.

[AllRoverAsia]

I tried to find an update on Corry Evans availabilty just now, I wasn't aware he was doubtful.

What's the info on Evans please Joey? cheers.

Evans has returned to Brockhall after International duty, not sure if he's carrying any injury.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/13844865.Gary_Bowyer_pleased_by_Blackburn_Rovers__fitness_levels___as_international_players_return/?ref=mac

1,050 away tickets sold so far and pay on the day at Stadium MK:

http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/blackburn-rovers-mk-dons-ticket-news-2742925.aspx

Match previews and Q&A comment from blueyedboy, always a good read:

https://blueyedboy.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/biggest-game-of-season-is-a-business-opportunity-say-oafs-who-run-our-club/

[sambo]

Ticket sales up above 1,050 now.

Pay on the day too - which I intend to do

Should be a decent following.

[watford-rover]

got my tickets for this so im hopeful for a better result than my last game (brighton).

My dad also decided he fancied coming after i had booked so i got him a ticket close to us so hoping to be able to move around when we kick off

[MK Don]

MK Dons v Blackburn Rovers

MK Stadium, Saturday October 17th, 15:00 ko

Following the International break Rovers play their first ever League game against MK Dons (nickname The Dons) but it's not our first visit to Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.

Rovers have played MK Dons once before losing 2-1 at Stadium MK in the Capital One Cup in August 2012. Only 3 of the Rovers team that day are still at Ewood, namely Hanley, Lowe and Olsson (Marcus) with the Goodwillies and Carlos Kickballs consigned to the history bin.

MK Dons started well in this, their first ever season in the Championship, with an opening day 4-1 win at Rotherham followed by a 1-0 loss at home to Preston, a 1-0 win at home to Bolton and a decent 0-0 draw away to Reading. After 4 games their 7 points from a possible 12 probably exceeded expectations, but excluding Reading their opponents so far had been mediocre at best. Their results since then have been quite awful........prior to their recent 1-1 draw at Bristol City they had lost the previous 6 games including a 6-0 home thrashing by Southampton in the League Cup. In the Championship it was 5 losses on the bounce with 3 of those at home and just 3 goals scored.

However, during this bad run they played reasonable quality Championship teams in Brum, Boro, Leeds, Derby and the Dingles. I watched the games against Derby and Leeds on TV and thought that MK Dons were a bit hard done by in both games after playing decent football but like us were poor at taking scoring chances. They are currently 19^th in the Championship on 8 points with a minus 5 GD and must try to win their home games to have a hope of getting away from the relegation zone. A positive for Rovers fans is that MK Dons are above Bolton and Preston in the table which isn't too bad a thing.

MK Dons base their team around a solid foundation of goalkeeper David Martin and defenders Dean Lewington (No.3), who is Club Captain with over 500 appearances for the Dons, Kyle McFadzean (no.5), Anton Kay (No.6) and Jordan Spence (No.12), all of whom have played in all League games so far this season. The other ever-present is goal scoring mid-fielder Carl Baker, the former Coventry City skipper who joined the Dons a year ago and was their player of the season in 2014-2015.

After scoring 101 goals last season in League One they are finding goals much harder to get in the Championship, just 9 goals in the 10 games played whilst conceding 14. Of the goals scored 7 have come from mid-fielders with striker Simon Church netting just 1 in 9 appearances and on loan 19 year old striker Sam Gallagher goalless so far in 8 games. To boost their attacking options The Dons have signed striker Nicky Maynard, after we opted not to, on a deal until the end of the season. Whilst the 29 year old Maynard has an impressive career record of 1 goal every 3 games he was at his most prolific earlier in his career at lower league levels with Crewe and Bristol City.

This game is the first of six matches for Rovers in three weeks which includes home games with Burnley, Preston and Brentford. Rovers are now playing good football with a team that's much more settled and we must go to Stadium MK to win to set us up for the busy period ahead.

I think the Dons will dominate possession but that Rovers will have a lot of scoring chances. Rovers need to take more of these and goals must start coming from other areas of the team. MK Dons are not strong in the air and we will be a constant threat to them from set-pieces, Duffy and Hanley need to get their attacking headers on target. Others also need to start showing up more in the goalscoring charts – Delfy, Koita, Conway and Marshall to name but four.

On Saturday Rovers will be without Koita (hamstring), Lowe and Brown but Kilgallon should be available and hopefully Guthrie. Rhodes returned early from the Scotland squad nursing a knee injury he got against Ipswich which begs the question as to why he was allowed to go in the first place. It's to be hoped that others return from their International duty unscathed.

Even though it's still early season it's pleasing that we now have a positive GD which is a good reflection on overall team performance and not just the defence....and also of our Manager.

Stadium MK: The Stadium was officially opened on 29^th November 2007 by the Queen. It is the home of MK Dons, Arena MK and DoubleTree Hilton Hotel. A first class Stadium although a bit of a walk from the nearest pre-match drinking Pubs in the Bletchley area. Within the stadium there is a bar at the Hilton Hotel which did allow away fans for a pre-match drink but I don't know if they still do. The stadium has an open concourse above the first tier with pitch views so hopefully you can eat your pies and not miss the game.

The stadium has a capacity of 30,500 but the high roof allows for a 3^rd tier to be added and an increased capacity of 45,000. Last season in League One MK Dons averaged 9,047 for home games. Looking at their home games so far this season it looks like they now have a core of home fans of about 11,000 which is not too shabby for a 'growing' club. The attendance for the visit of Leeds was 19,284 but the Leeds vandals travel in hordes.The record attendance for a football match was in August 2014 when 26,969 turned up to watch MK Dons Capital One Cup 4–0 defeat of Manchester United.

Stadium MK hosted 3 games in the Rugby World Cup 2015 and a total of 87,356 spectators attended. Attendance records were broken 3 matches on the bounce with a new Stadium record of 30,038 attending the Fiji v Uruguay game on 6^th October, perhaps showing that Bucks is still more Rugby than Football country.

A comprehensive guide for away fans visiting Stadium MK can be found here and contains a lot of info on eating and drinking in and around the Stadium and nearby:

http://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/championship/stadium-mk-milton-keynes-dons.html

A Bit of History: Back in the early days of this century a south London based football league club, Wimbledon, who had been in turmoil for years under changing ownership made the decision to move 56 miles north of London to Milton Keynes. To the surprise of Wimbledon's owners this was deeply unpopular both with the bulk of the club's established fan-base in south London and indeed football supporters generally. The peasant revolt was ignored by the totally independent and impartial commission appointed by the know-nowt FA(s) who granted permission for the move in May 2002.

Wimbledon played their first match in Milton Keynes in 2003, and then sensibly adopted the name of Milton Keynes Dons Football Club in 2004. The club now officially considers itself to have been founded in 2004, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours. They are usually referred to as just MK Dons.

Initially based at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, the club competed as MK Dons from the start of the 2004-2005 season. After two years in League One they were relegated to League Two but gained promotion back within 2 seasons and they also won the Football League Trophy in this period. Now playing at the new Stadium MK and having appointed Karl Robinson as manager their fortunes improved further and last season gained promotion to the Championship by finishing 2^nd, with the nice twist of pipping Preston for the 2nd automatic promotion spot on the final day of the season.

Whatever ones views on how MK Dons were formed they are very well run. To build their supporter base MK Dons have been successfully promoted as a family/ community club and have integrated into the local community in sporting and many other activities - certain other clubs could learn a lesson or two from this.

Things in Common

Paul Ince: After a successful playing career and following a stint as manager of Macclesfield Town, Ince was appointed manager of MK Dons in September 2007. It has to be said that Ince's short first spell at MK Dons was successful in winning the Football League Trophy at Wembley in March 2008 followed by promotion as League Two champions in April.

Then, in June 2008, for unfathomable reason, Rovers, then a Premier League club, appointed the still inexperienced Ince as their manager. The 2008–09 Premier League season started well for Rovers and Ince with a 3-2 away win at Everton (I remember watching it on the Telly). However things quickly turned sour and after winning just 3 games in 17, Ince was rightly sacked in December 2008. Ince had been with Blackburn only 177 days, one of the shortest reigns of a Premier League manager.

To Ince's credit he signed goalkeeper Paul Robinson for Rovers but on the downside was responsible for the arrival of Vince ''sick-note' Grella, the well past his sell-by-date Robbie Fowler and others.

Having failed miserably at Rovers, Ince followed up with spells at MK Dons (again) for 9 months, 6 months at Notts County where he set a Club record of losing nine games in a row and finally a year at Blackpool Circus.

Perhaps bored with what had become a nomadic life and the dawning fact that he was a crap manager Ince seems to have decided that he had the skill-set to be a TV football pundit. He may be wrong about that.

Keith Andrews: In September 2008 Ince brought Keith Andrews from MK Dons to join him in his push to mess up at Rovers. Andrews made his Rovers debut as a substitute in September 2008 against West Ham, a game Rovers lost 4–1. In the eyes of many his Rovers career went downhill after that or possibly from that games kick-off. He was a squad player at best often filling in when injuries dictated it and deserved some credit for that.

In August 2011 he went to Ipswich on loan and he never wanted to return to Rovers and was quoted as saying in a BBC interview "I don't particularly like the way I was treated at the club [blackburn]. Not just the manager, the club in general."........bearing in mind the shambles at Ewood at that time and the flack he was getting when playing that statement was not unexpected.

He left Rovers on transfer deadline day January 2012 on a free transfer to West Bromwich Albion, after handing in a transfer request at Rovers. He had made 70 appearances for Rovers mainly as a defensive midfielder scoring 5 goals but is perhaps best remembered for his funny run and finger pointing.

Karl Robinson: Following a playing career in the lower leagues Robinson coached at the Liverpool Youth Academy and later at Rovers. Ince (him again!) persuaded Robinson to join him at MK Dons as his assistant manager. He was appointed manager of MK Dons in May 2010 and at 30 years of age was the youngest manager at that time in the Football League.

After 5 successful years at MK Dons he is now one of the longest serving managers around. He has a reputation of building teams who play what has proved to be, at least in Leagues One and Two, a successful brand of attacking passing football.

As recently as July 2015, Robinson signed a contract extension at the Dons. He could well have a stellar career ahead, maybe not with The Dons.

Meanwhile back in south London..............The large majority of Wimbledon F.C. supporters had strongly opposed the idea of moving their club out of south London and in 2002 supporters set up AFC Wimbledon which rightly in my view considers itself the successor of the original team. Formed by and majority controlled by supporters they have been a great success.

Starting out in the 9^th tier of English football within 9 seasons they made it up to the 4^th tier in League Two. Following supporter group pressures, MK Dons in 2007 gave back the 'history' and honours won by Wimbledon FC to the London Borough of Merton, the original home of the club. AFC Wimbledon now have plans in progress to return to a new site at their spiritual home of Plough Lane. A great story and lesson and shows what can be done by fans faced with adversity but committed to their Club.

Hi...I am an MK Dons fan, in peace

I wanted to say this is a fantastic write-up and I take my hat off to you Sir, AllRoverAsia ! You are a true football fan. Your research and accuracy is second to none, and I appreciate that there is no anti-MK bias in what you say...even the way you stressed the move of Wimbledon to MK was made by an impartial, independent panel. So, welcome to MK on Saturday...hope you enjoy the day

We are simply delighted to be in the Championship, and our only goal this season is just to stay up ! I have seen one of our local rivals, Peterborough, go up twice in recent years, only to get relegated straight back to League One, so am under no allusions how tough this league is. And compared to many clubs, we are very poor financially. However, I think we have a squad capable of keeping us up...even though right now I am worried we lack a proper out-and-out striker....if you think this time last year (when we played Man United off the park and won 4-0 !) we had Will Grigg, Benik Afobe and Dele Alli.....and now they have all left.

Saturday will be a close call....both my club and yours will be thinking this is a "good chance" of 3 points.

How many fans do you think you will bring ?

As I say to all true BR fans....welcome to MK on Saturday

[MK Don]

In response to the chap on this thread who said MK Dons are "bottom on form".... A cold-reading of the results on "form" will agree with you...but I would like to add that we have been playing well, and have not deserved to have lost as many as we have. No-one in the Championship has "hammered" us this season, but rather have lost by the odd goal usually. We have also played some of the bigger clubs too....Derby, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Birmingham...so I think Dons fans will get a true picture of "where we are" in a couple of months' time, after we have played more mid and lower half teams.​

[AllRoverAsia]

Hi...I am an MK Dons fan, in peace

I wanted to say this is a fantastic write-up and I take my hat off to you Sir, AllRoverAsia ! You are a true football fan. Your research and accuracy is second to none, and I appreciate that there is no anti-MK bias in what you say...even the way you stressed the move of Wimbledon to MK was made by an impartial, independent panel. So, welcome to MK on Saturday...hope you enjoy the day

We are simply delighted to be in the Championship, and our only goal this season is just to stay up ! I have seen one of our local rivals, Peterborough, go up twice in recent years, only to get relegated straight back to League One, so am under no allusions how tough this league is. And compared to many clubs, we are very poor financially. However, I think we have a squad capable of keeping us up...even though right now I am worried we lack a proper out-and-out striker....if you think this time last year (when we played Man United off the park and won 4-0 !) we had Will Grigg, Benik Afobe and Dele Alli.....and now they have all left.

Saturday will be a close call....both my club and yours will be thinking this is a "good chance" of 3 points.

How many fans do you think you will bring ?

As I say to all true BR fans....welcome to MK on Saturday

Thanks I enjoyed doing the preview as tbh I didn't know much about MK Dons or indeed Milton Keynes before. TG for the Internet and Google.

I am old enough to remember the rise and fall of Wimbledon FC and the formation of both AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons and then checked the detail out easily on the web. At the time, as an ordinary football fan, my sympathy was, like many others, with the fan base in south London losing their Club. The way it has all panned out means that 2 communities now have well run professional clubs both on the rise which is good. Also it will be good if AFC Wimbledon succeed in getting back to a site in Plough Lane.

Researching on MK Dons I am very impressed about how they have gone about building the fan base with numerous community initiatives. I had to edit my preview a hell of a lot and take a lot out as it was looking like promotional material for you!

Others will know better than me but we had sold 1,050 tickets a day or so ago, so maybe 1,200 or more, which is pretty good.

What is the injury situation like for the Dons?

Can away fans get a pre-match drink at the Hotel and which are the nearest Pubs for Rovers fans?

Good luck for the season but not on Saturday if you finish above Bolton and Preston you should stay up and if one or better still both of them get relegated then job done!!!

[arbitro]

In response to the chap on this thread who said MK Dons are "bottom on form".... A cold-reading of the results on "form" will agree with you...but I would like to add that we have been playing well, and have not deserved to have lost as many as we have. No-one in the Championship has "hammered" us this season, but rather have lost by the odd goal usually. We have also played some of the bigger clubs too....Derby, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Birmingham...so I think Dons fans will get a true picture of "where we are" in a couple of months' time, after we have played more mid and lower half teams.​

Do you know the situation for public transport from MK Central to the stadium please? I have searched various websites and the information is vague and sometimes conflicting.

Thanks in advance.

[AllRoverAsia]

The match Referee is James Linington. This will be his first Rovers game this season. In 12 games referred so far this season across all competitions/ divisions he has handed out a total of 30 yellow and 2 red cards. In the match between Bristol Rovers and Oxford United in September he handed out 4 yellows and 2 reds.

In the 10 Championship games to date Rovers have accumulated 22 yellows (no reds) and MK Dons 23 yellows and 1 red.

Hanley and Duffy are already on 4 yellows each and Evans and Guthrie on 3 yellows each..................if playing the odds must be that at least one of those will get a card. My money in on Hanley to be first.

[sambo]

Do you know the situation for public transport from MK Central to the stadium please? I have searched various websites and the information is vague and sometimes conflicting.

Thanks in advance.

Hi mate,

Been looking into this myself and it seems the closest station is in fact Bletchley. The ground is outside MK itself.

Hope this helps.

[windymiller7]

Evans has returned to Brockhall after International duty, not sure if he's carrying any injury.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/13844865.Gary_Bowyer_pleased_by_Blackburn_Rovers__fitness_levels___as_international_players_return/?ref=mac

1,050 away tickets sold so far and pay on the day at Stadium MK:

http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/blackburn-rovers-mk-dons-ticket-news-2742925.aspx

Match previews and Q&A comment from blueyedboy, always a good read:

https://blueyedboy.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/biggest-game-of-season-is-a-business-opportunity-say-oafs-who-run-our-club/

I tried to find an update on Corry Evans availabilty just now, I wasn't aware he was doubtful.

What's the info on Evans please Joey? cheers.

Not sure what the score was but Evans didn't feature in ROI last match against Poland last Sunday. I watched the game and the commentator stated at the beginning of the game as he ran through the teams "Republic of Ireland are without Corry Evans this evening. The Blackburn midfielder has had to withdraw due to a sore toe'

Doesn't sound serious but I suppose it depend on how 'sore' it actually is - are we talking someone has stood on it or is it broken? I'm assuming that no news on it means it's likely to be the former.

[TeamGB-11]

Not sure what the score was but Evans didn't feature in ROI last match against Poland last Sunday. I watched the game and the commentator stated at the beginning of the game as he ran through the teams "Republic of Ireland are without Corry Evans this evening. The Blackburn midfielder has had to withdraw due to a sore toe'

Doesn't sound serious but I suppose it depend on how 'sore' it actually is - are we talking someone has stood on it or is it broken? I'm assuming that no news on it means it's likely to be the former.

Well that commentators a right numbnuts being as how Corry Evans plays for northern Ireland..

[windymiller7]

Well that commentators a right numbnuts being as how Corry Evans plays for northern Ireland..

Ha ha, yeah ok, my bad. Suitably embarrassed.

I was a bit hungover on Sunday whilst I watched both games ROI v Poland and NI v Finland. It was the the NI v Finland game (obviously) and it's me who's the numbnuts, not the commentator.

I'll get my coat!

[USABlue]

Can't see anything but a loss, slow start after the break not so unusual for us. More worryingly revert to type as GB feels the heat is off him a little.

[Butty]

It certainly won't be an easy game but I do think we are good enough to pick up 3 points on Saturday, would happily take a point though. Really don't want to go into the derby game next week on the back of a defeat. I'm gunna go 2-1 rovers but realistically I think it will be a 1-1 draw. Rhodes bagging for us of course.

[chaddyrovers]

Rhodes and Evans are fit.

Guthrie wont be

[LewisF]

2-0 rovers, Rhodes with another 2

[frosty]

No excuse not to go down there and win this one, we're in good form, they've got 1 point from 6 games and that was in the last minute against Bristol City.

If we go out and play to win then we should do, just hope we don't see a Doncaster/Rotherham repeat.

[AllRoverAsia]

Rhodes and Evans are fit.

Guthrie wont be

Great new about Rhodes and Evans which should seal us a win away. Going for Rovers to win 3 - 1 with 2 of them coming late in the game.

[DE.]

A huge relief to hear that Jordan is fit. My guess is his 'injury' earlier in the week was very minor, and he just didn't want to risk himself in a meaningless match against an amateur footballing nation, playing for a manager who has consistently overlooked him.

[blueboy3333]

No excuse not to go down there and win this one, we're in good form, they've got 1 point from 6 games and that was in the last minute against Bristol City.

If we go out and play to win then we should do, just hope we don't see a Doncaster/Rotherham repeat.

MK Dons should have beaten Derby the other week. Created loads of chances but just couldn't finish em. This won't be an easy game.

[Tom]

MK Dons should have beaten Derby the other week. Created loads of chances but just couldn't finish em. This won't be an easy game.

I can tell it won't be an easy game, Mercer hasn't declared we should win by 3 or 4 goals yet

[sharpysharps]

really should be putting this lot to the sword tomorrow....no real excuses not to be able to.

Given our next two games a much tougher then 3 points is an absolute must.

[JHRover]

The trajectory of MK Dons season so far appears from a distance to be quite similar to ours.

That is that they have been competitive all season, played pretty well, created lots of chances, and probably deserve more than they have got so far. They haven't been comfortably beaten or hammered (other than in the cup against Southampton) yet are finding wins hard to come by.

The old complaint of playing well, creating chances, and deserving more than the result sounds very much like our ventures against Wolves, Brighton, QPR and Fulham this season.

The primary difference appears to be that we have Jordan Rhodes and more experience at this level, and as such have managed to get a couple of recent wins to climb up a few places.

Whilst we can point to MK Don's decent performances and them playing some good stuff and deserving more points, the same applies to us. Infact we battered Brighton (top of the league) on their ground for a long spell yet came away with nothing.

So it obviously won't be easy, but it is the sort of game we need to be winning if we have any aims of threatening the upper echelons of the division this season rather than floating along between 12th and 20th.

Am I confident of a win? Not at all. I am never confident in our away form. I feel we are too fragile and lack the ruthless discipline required to go to these places and put in a complete performance for 95 minutes. We're always on the cusp of a lapse in concentration defensively.

Our record against the bottom end teams in recent seasons is pretty woeful, particularly away from home. The impression I got from performances at Doncaster and Rotherham in recent seasons was that we were there to go through the motions and we were caught out by teams fighting for their lives. I hope we don't get the same this time round.

I fancy us to get a draw so I'll go for 1-1.