MK Dons welcome Bristol Rovers to Stadium MK on Tuesday evening, in a game where both sides are in desperate need of points.

The hosts are sat in the relegation places while Bristol Rovers are just two points ahead of Tuesday's hosts.

Match preview

MK Dons come into this game on a run of one win in five league games and three in 11 for the campaign so far.

Their most recent match saw them beaten 2-1 at Shrewsbury Town, where goals from Tom Bayliss and Jordan Shipley consigned Liam Manning's side to a second consecutive league defeat.

To compound their woes, Dawson Devoy was sent off in the second half minutes after Zak Jules had pulled a goal back for the Dons.

Pressure will be mounting on Canning and his side, as they have only won one home league game so far this season and know that another defeat here could see them slide further into the relegation mire.

MK Dons' most recent League One victory was a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Oxford United in September, and as a consequence the Dons are now looking over their shoulders at Burton and Morecambe.

Bristol Rovers are faring ever so slightly better under Joey Barton, particularly as they come into Tuesday's game with four points from their last two games.

Their 2-1 home victory over Cambridge United on Saturday was a crucial one which lifted The Pirates out of the relegation zone.

A Greg Taylor own goal was cancelled out by Joe Ironside's penalty, before Josh Coburn scored the winner in the second half.

It has lifted some of the pressure off of Joey Barton, whose side can now start looking up the table if they can manage consecutive wins on Tuesday.

Rovers' away form is not great though, having won just once on the road in all competitions this season, but Tuesday gives Barton and his men a chance to rectify their poor away form at the expense of MK Dons.

Team News

Dawson Devoy will be suspended for MK Dons after his red card against Shrewsbury on Saturday, so the likes of Matthew Smith and Conor Grant will be pushing for a start here.

Elsewhere, Tennai Watson and Mo Eisa remain sidelined with long-term injuries but thankfully for the Dons there are no new injury concerns heading into Tuesday's game.

For Bristol Rovers, some bad news came out of the club this week when they announced that Josh Grant will be out of action for a while with a knee injury.

The defender has been struggling for a while with his knee and he now may require surgery to fix the issue.

John Marquis and Jerry Lawrence remain unavailable for Rovers, although there is better news for James Connolly, who is returning to training imminently.

MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Cumming; Tucker, O'Hora, Jules; Oyegoke, Smith, McEachran, Harvie; Burns, Dennis, Grigg

Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Gibbons, Hoole, Thomas, Gordon; Rossiter, Evans, Finley, Collins; Coburn, Loft

We say: MK Dons 1-1 Bristol Rovers

Both sides are struggling at the wrong end of the table and confidence is understandably low, so we expect them to cancel each other out and play out a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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