Maamria: It’s hard to see why MK are struggling as much as this
DINO Maamria thinks everyone in League One is surprised that Burton Albion’s opponents tomorrow, MK Dons, are sitting in the bottom four going into December.
Nor does he think they will stay there but, obviously, he wants to keep them firmly down there when the two sides meet at Stadium MK tomorrow in a crucial basement battle.
Milton Keynes are a place better off than Burton by virtue of a four-goal advantage on goal difference, with the bottom four locked together on 14 points, six points adrift.
Liam Manning’s side are hardly alone in having succumbed to a play-off failure hangover. Recent history in all EFL divisions is littered with examples of clubs who struggled the season after not quite going up.
MK were in with a shout for automatic promotion for much of last season but needed a 5-0 win away to Plymouth Argyle on the last day to secure a play-off place and then lost 2-1 to Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off semi-final.
In the summer they lost 20-goal forward Scott Twine to Burnley (where he has made only one appearance after a hip injury) and key defender Harry Darling to Swansea City and have been unable to discover last season’s form so far.
“We are all surprised that we’re sitting with the same amount of points as MK Dons, especially considering the start we had,” said Brewers boss Maamria.
“I’m surprised they are where they are with the quality players they have. They lost in the play-offs last season and I had actually backed them for automatic promotion.
“They have a good manager and some really good players. For one reason or another, they have lost their way a little bit.
“Momentum in football is really important. They had a bad start, they’ve not really recovered from it and find themselves in difficulty. “They’ve had a little bit of a recovery but they’re still there and we’re in a similar situation.
“When you have a bad start, it’s really hard, it doesn’t change overnight because the confidence and psychology of the team has changed from winning to losing.
“Our league is really unforgiving. You’ll have a run like Portsmouth, Bolton, Charlton, Barnsley, Derby. If you have a bad run, all of your games become very difficult.
“Will MK Dons be in the bottom four at the end of the season? I don’t think so, I think they have the quality to get out of it.
“They are better than bottom four and anybody in League One will tell you that.”
MK have retained their possession-based approach, which Manning successfully made a little more direct after replacing previous boss Russell Martin and they have a big, high quality pitch which suits it.
“They are a dangerous team and on their day they are capable of beating anyone,” said Maamria.
“They don’t change the way they play. It’s a big pitch, a nice surface and if you give them the ball and let them play as much as they want, they can hurt anybody.
“We must make sure we don’t fall into that trap.
“We’ll have to pick an athletic team to cope with the distances and players who can control and dominate possession.
“We will have to use the ball really well. The fans don’t make much of an impact in that big stadium but it’ll be about what’s on the pitch.”
If he believes that MK will escape and also, as he must, that Burton can, too, it stands to reason that they must drag at least two other teams into the dogfight at the bottom and the form book suggests that could happen.
Only one club of the seven immediately above the drop zone have won more than one of their last five League games and that is Cheltenham Town.
Maamria expects the pressure to begin to tell: “I think there are a few teams looking over their shoulders
Our league is really unforgiving. If you have a bad run all of your games become difficult
Dino Maamria
and I think it’s going to be an interesting second half to the season,” he said.
“We will have a winning run, I’m sure we will, and the sooner we do the better.
“There’s still a lot of football to be played and a lot of teams will look at January to strengthen.
“Our performances, overall, have been good and we’ve probably deserved more than we got.
“But we were unbeaten in November, so it’s been a good month for us. We could have picked up more points – we didn’t. Now it’s a big December with some big games.
“We have to learn from Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday away. Our performances in those games were OK but we didn’t end up with any points.
“We have to pick points up in our situation, especially now before the transfer window opens. It’s all very well saying we are learning but we have to have the points as well and tomorrow is a very important three points.”