Interim manager Nick Daws says Cameron McGeehan has missed part of training this week, but he’s hoping the on-loan Barnsley midfielder will be fit enough to take part in Saturday’s away clash at MK Dons.
Elsewhere, there are no fresh injury worries as United look to make it a hat-trick of successive victories when they face a Dons side fighting a relegation battle.
Ahead of the match, Daws spoke about how training has gone this week, discussed Duane Holmes winning five awards at the club’s annual Presentation Evening and previewed the task ahead at Stadium MK in an interview with iFollow Iron.
ON CAMERON McGEEHAN…
ND: He picked up a knock earlier this week, which means he missed training on Thursday but hopefully he’ll be back on Friday and available for the squad at the weekend. It’s a contact injury that we’ll assess. It came at the end of a small-sided game we did and he just tweaked his knee a little bit. He’s done really well when he’s come on in matches, playing an important part. It’s been difficult for him, he’s come from a Championship club and not been able to establish himself as much as he’d like here at the start but that’s probably testament to the squad that we’ve got and the players in his position like Duane, Funso Ojo and Ryan Yates who have done really well. He’s a great character and really wants to do well, with an immense desire to better himself and the team. Hopefully he’ll be with us at the weekend. There was a little bit of illness with Andrew Crofts in the early part of the week that meant he’s not been back in the building until Thursday, but he’s recovered from that.
ON HOW TRAINING HAS BEEN…
ND: Training has gone really well. We’ve had a full week again, and it’s our last full week of training before the end of the regular season. The lads have trained well, they’ve been competitive, lively and bright and come Friday we’ll be all ready to go against MK Dons.
ON THE PRESENTATION EVENING…
ND: It was a really good awards night, and Duane Holmes has had an exceptional season so fair play to him. He’s been rewarded for his effort, talent, ability and work rate. He’s been recognised not only by his fellow players but the supporters too, and I think it’s well deserved. The fact he’s taken the two key awards means he’s been consistent. Other players won awards too and it shows the strength of the squad is really good, and we have some talented players.
ON HOW RESULTS MOSTLY WENT THE IRON’S WAY IN MIDWEEK…
ND: We always thought four or five weeks ago that it would be up and down. Everyone tries to predict what results will happen but, in reality, it’s never the case and I’m not surprised that some of the teams that were expected to win lost points against sides not expected to win, because that’s the way it is and we saw ourselves playing Walsall and AFC Wimbledon how difficult those games can be if you don’t approach them in the right way. The only obvious thing back then was it will take a minimum of 70 points to guarantee a play-off place and we expect it will take a fair few points yet to guarantee our spot.
ON SATURDAY’S OPPOSITION MK DONS…
ND: They’ve had a tough season and it’s not long since they were in the Championship. Like ourselves a few years back, when we were in the Championship and then in the space of two or three seasons in League Two. We fought back from that and MK Dons have been in that situation before. It’s a big club with aspirations and they’ll be hurting because of the situation they’re in. Our aim is to make sure we don’t take anything for granted. We respect them and the fact they have some good players. In fairness to the boys, we’ve prepared well so far this week and are in the right frame of mind to be able to take three points.
ON HAVING THREE GAMES INSIDE A WEEK TO FINISH THE REGULAR SEASON…
ND: This is the first time since myself and Andy (Dawson) took over that we’ve had a three-game week as such. At this stage of the season, it’s fallen quite nicely because whatever the results for any team involved at the weekend, there’s another game around the corner. From our point of view, we’ll go out to try to win and then look forward to facing Plymouth here on Tuesday.
ON THE TRAVELLING FANS…
ND: The travelling support has been outstanding, certainly since we took over. They’ve been right behind us and supported us really well away at Oxford, AFC Wimbledon and Charlton, and I think they will do again at MK Dons. They should enjoy the trip, it’s a great stadium. Hopefully we’ll come back here with three points on Saturday evening and they’ll be ready to see us across the line on Tuesday and Saturday against Plymouth and Bradford.
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