By Nathan Jackson
April 2 2008

MK Dons have had an impressive season and should realistically make the Playoffs now, but what stats can we give you to give you an indication of how well they've done? There are some that might surprise you such as MK Dons' 100% record at losing when they fail to score and their coming from behind record isn't that good either/ MK Dons are not only one of the best sides in League 2 but also in the lower Leagues. They proved this by winning what is effectively the League's 1 and 2 Cup by defeat Grimsby at Wembley on Sunday. Much was said about the penalty that gave MK the victory but even if it was a debatable foul, MK deserved their victory as they were simply the better team.

Their away record speaks for itself. This season they've played 25 games away from stadium:mk this season in all competitions, winning 18, drawing 4 (one which they won on penalties) and losing just 3. That is considerably better than City's home record of played 22, won 8, drawn 4 and lost 10.

The Dons haven't lost in 11 games, winning 9 of those. The strange thing is though that MK don't have a striker that scores on a regular basis. Wright, Andrews and Dyer are the only three players they have that have reached double figures and they're all midfielders. Gallen has scored 9 and is the most prolific of MK's strikers. And it's not only the good players that score goals for MK Dons, Drewe Broughton and Jude Stirling have both scored 1 as well.

The Dons have the best defence in League 2 with just 29 games going into their net, an average of 0.74 goals a game. However, the Dons are far from immortal as they failed to win 7 times after taking the lead. They've won just once after going behind but have won every time they've kept a clean sheet. They've lost all 4 times they failed to score.

Their record against teams from the bottom half of the table should make City nervous. 21 games have produced 15 wins, 3 draws but also 3 defeats. That is the best record in the division.

Games between City and the Dons are often high scoring affairs. In 5 meetings there has been 18 goals. City have scored the first goal just one in that time frame and that came in the first meeting. Marvin Robinson's diving header gave City the lead in the FA Cup first round but a heavily deflected shot later and City were forced into a replay which they subsequently lost.

The 5 meetings have also seen 5 penalties, 3 to MK and 2 to City. MK missed both their penalties against the Imps at the National Hockey Stadium in January last year, whereas Jamie Forrester had one saved on the brink of half time in the meeting at Sincil Bank last year, it would have drawn City level.

MK are almost certain to gain promotion now. After coming close last season they finally appear to be taking their chance. This game will come as a shock to the system at Milton Keynes as it is one of the few games they have which isn't shown live on Sky. Since arriving in this division they have had over 10 games shown live on TV, shocking when you consider they haven't been here two years.

Two former Imps are in the MK Dons squad. Jude Stirling was voted as one of the worst footballers ever to grace the pitch at Sincil Bank after his painfully awful performances for us in the 2005/6 season. The other being Matt Carbon, he returned to Sincil Bank for a second spell on loan in 2003/4 but got injured after just 45 minutes into his re-debut against Hull City.

The 16 players that represented the Dons at Wembley on Sunday were Willy Gueret, Jude "can't kick, won't kick" Stirling, O'Hanlon, Danny Swailes, Dean Lewington, Keith Andrews, Alan Navarro, Lloyd Dyer, Colin Cameron, Jemal Johnson, Alan Wright, Kevin Gallen, Aaron Wilbraham, Nathan Abbey and Gareth Edds.

MK need to win by at least 2 goals to move back to the top on Friday night. A victory by just 1 goal would draw them level with Peterborough on points and goal difference but Boro would be top because of goals scored.