Town boss Paul Cook is expecting a thoroughly entertaining game of football with two teams going toe-to-toe when former academy midfielder and coach Liam Manning’s MK Dons are at Portman Road on Saturday.
Manning took over as manager at Stadium MK a week ago following Russell Martin’s departure for Swansea City.
The 36-year-old, who was previously boss of Belgian side Lommel SK, added two more ex-Town academy coaches, former reserves centre-half Chris Hogg and first-team full-back David Wright, to his staff as first-team coach and assistant first-team coach respectively.
Manning’s first game saw the Dons lose 2-1 at home to Sunderland before they beat Charlton by the same scoreline on Tuesday, also at Stadium MK, while their opening League One match prior to Manning's appointment ending in a 3-3- draw at Bolton.
Saturday's match will be Manning's first away game in charge of his new side, who are currently 12th in the early-season table, seven places and three points above Town.
Blues manager Cook says he has been impressed with what he’s seen from the Buckinghamshire club this season: "Excellent, really good philosophy, really good style, stick to the principles of the game.
"Tomorrow at Portman Road they’ll have spells in the game when they will probably open us up because they’re very good at it.
"I don’t think it’ll be a 0-0 draw because you’re going to get two teams intent on winning a football game.
"And when you get two teams who want to go toe-to-toe like that, someone will buckle. I’m quite confident tomorrow that it won’t be us, although I’ve got the utmost respect for MK Dons because they’re very good at what they do.”
Cook has been a manager since 2006 when he took charge at Southport. What advice does he have for a fledgling boss such as Manning or perhaps what would he liked to have been told when he was first starting out?
"Try not to pass your way of a league I got told and I didn’t really stick to that,” he said. "I enjoyed them passing it and we won the league, so I think Liam’s doing a good job.
"I think I might be asking Liam for a bit of help tomorrow at five o’clock when he comes in for a drink!
"I think for young coaches and managers now it’s great. I think you see all the teams in football now, coaches are very much more educated nowadays, they really are. And with that education come tactics and awareness of the opposition etc, and Liam’s doing very, very well.
"Whilst I wish him well, hopefully I’ll be enjoying a drink with him after the game tomorrow after an Ipswich win.”
Despite the Blues having lost two and drawn one of their previous League One matches, Cook believes his side has been in control of the games and at the hour mark looked set to go on to win each of them.
"Don’t forget that you can’t conquer the world in a day,” he said. "The disappointing thing for me last year was that I never felt we were the best team on the pitch.
"In all three games this season, I’ve felt we had taken control the three games. Unfortunately, we haven’t got the correct results, but you can’t do everything overnight.
"At the minute, we are very much a work in progress. By the way, no different than Sunderland probably are, no different than one or two other teams, Wigan as well with new players.
"Around that, you’ve got teams like Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham that have got the nucleus of strong squads that have been together for a period of time.
"So for us, the games will play out very much as they have done. Teams will come with different ideas on how to win the game.
"For us tomorrow, I’m sure we will see a very, very entertaining game of football at Portman Road. I expect it to be a really good spectacle for League One with two teams intent on scoring goals and playing progressive football.
"We’ve got to learn to adapt to every scenario. The last two games away from home have been really tough ones to take because, at both stages of the games on 60 minutes, we look like winning both games.
"Unfortunately for us, we haven’t even come away with a point. And that can be heartbreaking.
"As you can imagine in football, confidence is key and when you keep getting your confidence knocked it’s hard not to have belief and hard not to have that spirit. These lads will not feel any negativity around them, none. My job is to make them feel invincible.”
In addition to Manning, Hogg and Wright, Troy Parrott will also be back at Portman Road having joined MK on loan for the season having had a spell with the Blues in the second half of 2020/21.
Has Cook got any special plans in mind for Parrott? "No, no special plans for Troy. He’s a fantastic lad, and he’s a really, really good player, his loan with Ipswich will stand him in really good stead to go on and have a really good football career.
"He’s going to be a really good player, he’s got a really good appetite for football, he wants to get better, and he wants to learn, and he’s a really good acquisition for MK Dons.”
Cook has said one of his players is unwell and won’t be involved without naming that individual and gave no clues on whether any of his injured players - Toto Nsiala, James Norwood, Conor Chaplin (all hamstring), Jon Nolan (calf) Wes Burns and Sone Aluko - are available, although he confirmed George Edmundson, also hamstring, won’t be involved but isn’t far away from his Town debut. Burns has hinted on social media that he may be involved.
The Blues boss probably won’t move too far away from the team which started and was for spells impressive at Cheltenham before falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Assuming he’s not the player suffering from illness, Vaclav Hladky will be in goal with Cook having a decision to make at right-back.
Kane Vincent-Young was left out at Whaddon Road and replaced by Janoi Donacien, but the former Colchester man, who missed the start of pre-season as he was still recovering from the shoulder injury he suffered at the end of last season, may well return.
Cook similarly has a dilemma at left-back with Hayden Coulson having been on the bench for the first time at Cheltenham. Depending on his level of fitness - the on-loan Middlesbrough man was self-isolating for 12 days with Covid prior to joining the Blues - Coulson could be handed his debut in place of Matt Penney, although that would be harsh on the Sheffield Wednesday man, who scored an excellent first goal in English football against the Robins.
Cameron Burgess looks set to make his home debut, having made a very assured first appearance for the Blues at Whaddon Road, alongside Luke Woolfenden at the centre of the defence.
In midfield, skipper Lee Evans again seems likely to partner Rekeem Harper with Scott Fraser set to be on the right and Kyle Edwards making his home debut on the left after a very exciting first-half display at Cheltenham. Burn is another option for a wide role if he is available.
Cook will probably stick with Joe Pigott as the main striker with Macauley Bonne probably continuing in the other central attacking role assuming Chaplin isn’t fit.
For MK, striker Max Watters (ankle) and midfielder David Kasumu (hamstring) both continue to be sidelined, while another midfielder Daniel Harvie will miss out having suffered a concussion.
Manning says he appreciates everything Town did for him but has only one aim on Saturday.
"I have fun memories but ultimately I’ll be going there to get the win and to perform - that’s the game!” Manning told the MK Citizen.
"I have very good memories - I spent a lot of time there, from 13 to 20. And then I came back to coach at 21, 22 and then spent the best part of eight or nine years there. I have a huge history with the club and I'm still in contact with people there.
"I'm hugely grateful for the opportunities they provided me, the education they gave me and some of the people I met there - Chris and David both have history there as well.”
The Norwich-born coach says he's been pleased with what he's seen of his team so far.
"The attitude and application in the last two games has been terrific - we’ve shown real bravery to get on the ball and play too," he said. "The big task now is to be able to go again.”
The Blues and the Dons have only ever met on six occasions, five times in the league - three Town wins and last season’s two draws - and once in the Carling Cup in 2007 when the game ended 3-3 before MK won a penalty shoot-out 5-3.
In April, in the first game after confirmation of the Gamechanger 20 takeover, Town recorded their third 0-0 draw in four matches with the MK Dons at Portman Road.
Sub Freddie Sears went closest for the Blues in the second half when he looped an effort wide with visiting keeper Andrew Fisher out of his goal.
At Stadium MK in October last year, Town dropped points and conceded in League One for the first time in 2020/21 as they drew 1-1 with the Dons having ended the game with 10 men after sub Flynn Downes was forced off with an injury.
Jon Nolan gave Town the lead in the seventh minute, Daniel Harvie scored a deserved leveller for the home side five minutes after the break and the Blues, who dropped to third in the table, held on for a point.
Blues midfielder Fraser joined the club from the Dons in the summer having spent one successful season with MK making 45 starts and five sub appearances, scoring 14 times.
MK Dons boss Manning was a youngster with the Blues without making the senior side and later an academy coach, while first-team coach Chris Hogg was also at Town as a player without making a senior appearance and also worked in the academy.
Former Blues full-back David Wright, who also had roles at Playford Road, joined Manning’s staff as assistant first-team coach earlier in the week.
MK striker Charlie Brown was an academy player with Town before moving on to Chelsea’s youth set-up aged 16 in July 2016 having already broken into the U23s.
Forward Parrott was on loan at Portman Road in the second half of last season, scoring twice in 13 starts and five sub appearances.
Saturday’s referee is Josh Smith from Bedfordshire, who has shown 11 yellow cards and one red in four games so far this season.
Smith’s only previous Town match was the 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat away at Exeter in January 2020 in which he booked Woolfenden, Toto Nsiala, Will Keane and one Grecian.
Squad from: Hladky, Holy, Vincent-Young, Donacien, Penney, Coulson, Burgess, Woolfenden, Ndaba, Evans (c), Harper, Carroll, El Mizouni, Fraser, Burns, Dobra, Edwards, Pigott, Bonne, Barry, Jackson.