Back four unlikely to become Dons’ formation of choice this season

The shift from a back three to a back four on Tuesday night was purely driven by personnel rather than any longer-term plans, Liam Manning has said.

At the start of the season, MK Dons tinkered with a flat back-four rather than a three with wing-backs, but it quickly changed with the return of Daniel Harvie from injury.

In the Papa John’s Trophy against Newport County, Dons lined up with four at the back again against the League Two side, but Manning admitted it was a means of getting players on the pitch who needed minutes again, rather than any meaningful look at a new system.

“We looked at the personnel who we felt needed to play,” he said. “Dan Harvie missed a game suspended, Dan Oyegoke needed a game, Ethan (Robson), Dawson (Devoy) and Conor (Grant) all needed a game, and Darragh (Burns) has played wide for most of his career so it gave us the opportunity to look at it. We want players in positions they're comfortable with.

“I don't focus too much on formations because it's only really a starting structure, and especially in possession, the shape we try to create is the same whether it's a back four or a three.

“We gave it a try the other night, and the lads adapted and dealt with it quite well.”

But while the shape proved impactful against Newport as Dons claimed a 3-1 win, Manning said it is unlikely to be a formation they opt for long-term.

He continued “We look at what the opposition do, how they set up, but we flip it back on us and where we think we can get success. It's about trying to find balance of stopping the opposition and where we can control games.

“We've not had the chance to change it a lot this season, but the Trophy game gave us an opportunity to be able to do that. I'm not saying we won't do it again throughout the year, but where we're at we need to give the lads a level of consistency.

“It's not right to keep changing systems, but to keep players in the same positions, repeating actions to build confidence.”