It will be Darren Patterson's first game in charge as caretaker boss since the sacking of Paul Trollope and the Northern Irishman will be chomping at the bit to show his credentials for taking the job on a permanent basis. Both Skybet and Victor Chandler currently have Patterson inked in as third favourite for the job, offering odds of 7/2 and 3/1 respectively. It will also be welcomed by the fans who have now gone more than two weeks without seeing a game for the second time this season.
The Gas played just two games in December, losing 6-2 away at Sheffield Wednesday, despite taking a seventh minute lead at Hillsborough. 4-1 Down at half time a Will Hoskins wonder-volley from outside the area proved to be in vain as goals from James O'Connor and former Rovers loanee Paul Heffernan sentenced the away side to a devastating defeat that dumped them into the League 1 relegation zone. Following that Rovers faced Exeter City in the Johntsone's Paint Trophy area semi-final. Once again it was the Gas who scored first through Will Hoskins and though they took the lead for a second time in the second half thanks to Ben Swallow the game went to penalties in which Rovers went on to lose 5-4. This proved to be Paul Trollope's final game in charge as early the next morning came the announcement that he was to be put on gardening leave by the club. Prior to those results Rovers had gotten two creditable draws away at Brighton and Charlton but the problem lies in the fact that a league game has not been won since the October 16th home victory over Rochdale.
Prior to Tuesday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth the MK Dons had lost their last three games including a 4-1 home hammering by Sheffield Wednesday, but the victory against a Cherries side looking for back to back promotions will do the Dons confidence the world of good, although, there home form is not too bad. From their last six home league games the Dons have lost just one game, that aforementioned defeat to Wednesday, drawn one and won the other four. Despite sitting in 12th place MK Dons are only one point off of a play off place and will be looking to continue their push against the Gas, they will, however, be a man down for the upcoming tie.
The Dons have lost striker Aaron Wilbraham to Championship side Norwich, initially on a loan deal to allow him to play on New Year's Day, with the transfer being made permanent when the transfer window opens later that day. Before leaving Wilbraham had scored 3 goals in 12 appearances for this season. The goals at Stadium:MK and on the road have been shared around by the squad, with fourteen different players having put the ball in the net, the top scorer among them being home grown talent Sam Baldock, who has six to his name, while Scottish midfielder Peter Leven is not far behind on five.
But it's not just the team from MK that have transfer speculation surrounding them as Rovers striker Will Hoskins is understood to have been the target of a bid from Scunthorpe United, a bid that has already been rejected by the Rovers management, while Derby County are also thought to be interested in the Pirates leading marksman.
Since the club moved from London to Milton Keynes their record against Rovers has been very good. The two sides have met six times, with only one win for the Gas, that coming thanks to a Jo Kuffour strike at the beginning of April. In the 2008/09 season Rovers lost both games against the Dons by two goals to one, including an abhorrent performance on Boxing Day 2008 that saw the team booed off of the pitch by the home fans.
In Dons team news away from Wilbraham's exit Sam Baldock is likely to feature at some stage as he makes his return from injury. His fellow striker Angelo Balanta, on loan from Championship leaders Queens Park Rangers, is definitely out with an ankle injury. Defender Jude Stirling is also out with a long-term injury.
Darren Patterson will have a fully fit squad to choose from in his first match in charge of the Gas.
Patterson has been frustrated with the recent postponements but is confident that his side can go and get a result in Buckinghamshire, he told BBC Radio Bristol:
"It's a good stadium, hopefully there'll be a good crowd against one of the much more fancied teams with a much bigger budget and all that.
"But these are the games that the lads really enjoy and, apart from Sheffield Wednesday, we've done particularly well away from home.
"We'll show them the respect we show everybody, but my cup is always half full and I feel on any given day we can beat anybody and I truly believe that."
MK Dons manager Karl Robinson has seen his team through a recent poor run and hopes that they have turned a corner, telling www.mkdons.com:
"I felt we went off the boil a little bit after a fantastic start, but we feel like we're back on track and we're fully focused on what's ahead of us. The attitude and camaraderie among the players and staff is as good as it's been.
"We've come out of it much better people, but it wasn't a severe blip where we didn't win for seven or eight games. It wasn't as if we were totally poor in those games, but afterwards we decided we couldn't leave things to luck, we had to work harder than anyone else to rectify it and get ourselves where we want to be.
"If you work hard as a group, success will always follow. So it's my job now to make sure that the players, the staff and everyone at this Football Club is pulling in the same direction to build that success in 2011."
It could be another tricky day for Rovers, but the first game since the sacking of Paul Trollope will give the team the chance to galvanise themselves and show the spirit in the camp to the fans.
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