Salford City hoping to return to form against MK Dons

Salford City take on Milton Keynes Dons this Saturday looking to bounce back from successive league defeats against Mansfield Town and Gillingham.

Neil Wood’s side continues to navigate a difficult run of fixtures, once again the Ammies are facing a team with playoff aspirations.

Salford currently occupy 15th place in the league table and comes into the game two points worse off than their opponents.

Milton Keynes Dons arrive at the Penninsula stadium winless in their last seven league games on the road, however, the away side has witnessed a recent upturn in form of late.

Since appointing head coach Mike Williamson in October, MK Dons have picked up seven points from a possible 12 under his management.

This Saturday’s encounter will be the first competitive meeting between the sides. The away team recently dropped down into League Two after being relegated in dramatic fashion last campaign.

Despite having 33 attempts at goal MK Dons failed to beat the drop on the final day of last season drawing 0-0 away at Burton Albion in a must-win game. The side was subsequently relegated by a point.

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— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) November 23, 2023

This weekend is set to bring about a special milestone for the Ammies star striker Matt Smith. The League Two October player of the month is set to make his 500th professional appearance ten seasons on from making his first for Oldham.

Speaking to ‘The Official EFL Podcast’ this week the Ammies frontman noted that “It’s a fantastic milestone, I’m not overly nostalgic about football but this is something that I can pat myself on the back for.”

The achievement has been made all the sweeter for Smith by his arduous route into the professional game. The forward played for numerous non-league sides before making his EFL debut.

He noted, “At 22 I’d have snapped your hand off for one professional game.”

At the age of 34 Smith’s goalscoring form has shown no sign of slowing down and after 499 professional appearances the striker is just as content playing football as he was all those years ago.

“It’s the best job in the world so how could you not enjoy the process.”

Matt Smith will be hoping to mark the special occasion with a goal.