Upbeat Sheridan has grounds for optimism

EYE FOR GOAL: MK Dons' Kieran Agard has scored 11 times so far this season

A DOZEN goals have been shipped in by John Sheridan teams on his last two visits to MK Dons, making it the perfect venue at which to exorcise some personal demons.

A 6-2 loss at MK Dons precipitated his departure from Athletic eight years ago, with Joe Royle moving in to take the side for the final nine games of the campaign.

That nightmare repeated itself when Sheridan suffered a loss by the same scoreline when in charge at Chesterfield six years ago.

Tonight, avoiding defeat in this rearranged clash will tip Athletic up above the bottom-four in Sky Bet League One.

HOT-SEAT

And another thrashing is the last thing in the mind of a manager, who has now won three out of five games since his return to the hot-seat.

"You have good grounds and bad grounds," said Sheridan.

"But I go there now with a different team and one that has a bit of belief.

"They are a good team and it is a nice ground. They have good players and are usually in or around the play-offs.

"Not so long ago they were in the Championship. It will be a tough game.

"But we go there and we think we can win. We respect them, as they can give you a lot of problems, but we will have a go.

"We are keeping clean sheets and we have a few different qualities in our team now."

One player who turned out in both of those heavy Dons victories won't take his place in Robbie Neilson's line-up tonight.

Dean Lewington (32) is still a few weeks away from a return to the side due to an ankle problem, but could still be on hand to provide a few pointers.

"He's a strong character," said Neilson. "I spoke to him when he got injured, asking him to stay around the place. He was at Peterborough with his crutches, and then was at the game on Saturday too.

"He has been great since he has been out, having him around the place. He's a leader and the players look up to him, so it's important when he's out, he's still here with us."

MK Dons' home form, which had been wretched, is on the upswing.

Without a league win at Stadium MK all season, three in a row arrived before a 1-1 home draw with Bolton at the weekend.

Kieran Agard scored his 11th goal of the season as the Dons came back from 1-0 down in a game played out in front of a record crowd of 21,545 celebrating Milton Keynes' 50th anniversary.