Newly-appointed Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway has started off perfectly with wins against Colchester and Tottenham Hotspur U21s in the FA Cup and the EFL Trophy.
Ex-Forest Green Rovers assistant coach Scott Lindsey’s MK Dons are the next opponent for his side as the new boss will look to transition his good start into the league with a positive mood within the team being key.
He said: “I can’t wait to feel that energy in that room, that’s what life’s all about.
“You have ups and downs in your life and you have to keep bouncing back so it’s nice we’ve got some wins but it’s all about the league now.”
Swindon Town currently sit 22nd in the Sky Bet League Two table with only a single point separating them from escaping the relegation places.
“We have to do better in the league and hopefully we can take the confidence that we’ve started to build and move forward,” the 61-year-old said.
The Dons are sat one spot outside the play-off spots and have turned their form around with the appointment of the former Crawley Town manager.
They were eliminated from the cup in their last game with a 2-0 loss against fierce rivals AFC Wimbledon which sealed their fate.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn League Two they’ve lost just the one game, but the Town manager is in the midst of planning out how his team could get a result.
“Really I’ve got to try and show our lads what to do against them, so we’ll do our attacking today [Thursday] and our defending tomorrow [Friday].
“Hopefully we’ll know their passing lanes and hopefully we’ll win it back and hopefully we can hurt them.”
Town have conceded two goals from two games under Holloway as he faces a side in good goal-scoring form in the league having scored eight in their last three games.
Holloway continued: “I’ve heard that they can go a little bit longer depending on what the situation is but really, it’s all about if I’ve got something that the lads who analyse it can show me, that will help me explain it to my lads before we start but my job is to set them up before the game.”
Goals from Danny Butterworth and Sean McGurk helped the Robins overcome Tottenham Hotspur U21s despite being 1-0 down earlier in the game to the Lilywhites.
The former Crystal Palace manager reflected on the win that saw them progress to the knock-out stages and what his side could have done better.
“Some teams are so good at keeping the ball, so you don’t know how to get it and your team loses confidence against that.
“You could see in the first half that if you give them all the choices, they’ll play round you and those young lads from Tottenham certainly did.”
Holloway believed the key to the comeback was keeping the deficit to only one goal, “They should have gone two up but we managed to see it out and then our confidence started to grow back.
“I’ve got a lot of people in there who really can’t wait to go again”, he added.
