Tomorrow afternoon sees Crewe Alexandra host MK Dons who make the trip to South Cheshire.
This Season:
They sit in 7th place in the league following wins against Charlton Athletic, Accrington Stanley, Portsmouth, Gillingham, Wycombe Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, they have drawn against Bolton Wanderers, Ipswich Town, Cheltenham Town, Fleetwood Town while they have lost against Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers, Shrewsbury Town and Rotherham United.
They were knocked out by Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup 1st Round and have qualified from their EFL Trophy group after wins against Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers before a defeat against Aston Villa’s Under-21s. They host Stevenage in the FA Cup 1st Round.
Transfers:
MK Dons have made 10 signings, 5 on permanent deals and 5 on season-long loans. Goalkeeper Franco Ravizzoli would be joined by defenders Aden Baldwin, Tennai Watson and loanee Peter Kioso. Midfielders Scott Twine and loanee Ethan Robson have also joined while forwards Mo Eisa Josh Martin, Max Watters and Troy Parrett (the last 3 on loan) complete the signings.
They have allowed 10 to leave permanently while 3 players have left on loan deals.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 6
Dons Wins: 4
Draws: 3
Biggest Alex Win: 2-0 at the Alexandra Stadium in January 2014
Biggest Dons Win: 6-1 at Stadium:MK in September 2014
Last Meeting:
MK Dons 0-2 Crewe Alexandra, 5th April 2021
An early Mika Mandron brace (15 and 20) saw the Alex complete a league double against the Dons (the game in South Cheshire also finishing 2-0 to the Alex).
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Offord (Daniels 90), Lancashire, Beckles, Pickering; Murphy, Wintle, Lowery (Ainley 82); Dale (Walker 72), Mandron (Porter 90), Kirk (Adebisi 90)
Dons: Fisher, O’Hora, Darling, Jules, Laird (Sorinola 73), Thompson (Kasuma 60), Surman (Brown 74), McEachran (Fraser 60), Harvie, O’Riley, Jerome (Grigg 57)
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Ademola Bankole, Paul Rachubka
Defenders: Jon Otsemobor, James Tunnicliffe, Danny Woodards
Midfielders: Chuks Aneke, Mark Carrington, Jake Livermore, Anthony McNamee, Alan Navarro
Forwards: Jordan Bowery, Simon Church, Ryan Colclough, Tom Hitchcock, Ryan Lowe, Nicky Maynard, John Miles, Dean Morgan, Daniel Powell, Ryan Seager, Allan Smart, Stephen Walker
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Andy Haines the referee, Oliver Bickle and Steven Plane are his assistants with Kenwyn Hughes the fourth official. The following games have been refereed by Haines in the past 5 years:
- Accrington Stanley 3-2 Crewe Alexandra (8th April 2017) – Cooke, Dagnall
- Crewe Alexandra 0-5 Carlisle United (23rd September 2017)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Port Vale (2nd November 2019)
- Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Macclesfield Town (22nd February 2020) – Porter, Walker
- Rochdale 3-3 Crewe Alexandra (9th January 2021) – Finney (2), Dale
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Rochdale (24th April 2021) – Kirk
Opposition View:
I asked MK Dons supporter Jonathan Harries for his thoughts going into the game.
