Dean Lewington

By Oli
February 20 2009

Dons travel to Prenton Park on Saturday for a stern test against home specialists Tranmere Rovers, but are boosted by the possible returns of several key players.

After a disappointing January the Dons seem to be back up and running with Saturday's 3-1 home victory against Hartlepool United making it three wins on the bounce. And manager Roberto Di Matteo will be boosted by the possible returns of four players to the starting lineup on Saturday.

Leading goalscorer Aaron Wilbraham has served his one match suspension for five yellow cards and is expected to be immediately reinstated to the starting eleven, despite two goals from his replacement, Canadian Ali Gerba, last Saturday. Despite the successful second half switch to 4-4-2 against Hartlepool the Dons should revert to their usual away 4-5-1 formation, with Wilbraham the lone striker.

Behind him, Peter Leven came through nearly half an hour as a substitute unscathed and could start. Luke Chadwick is a doubt after being forced to come off with a hamstring problem on Saturday, but if fit will start just off striker Wilbraham, with Jason Puncheon starting wide on the right. If the Dons are without Chadwick, expect Puncheon to take up that more central position with Sam Baldock starting on the right wing.

In defence right-back Shaun Cummings may return after an ankle injury, but such a decision would be very harsh on Carl Regan, who has replaced him excellently. Sean O'Hanlon could return but Jude Stirling is ready to fill in alongside Miguel Llera if O'Hanlon is passed unfit. Luke Howell and Danny Swailes remain sidelined.

With Leicester on the 28th looming, as well as a very difficult March to come, the trip to 9th placed Tranmere may well be the start of a run that shapes the Dons' season. Tranmere themselves have picked up ten victories out of sixteen at home, a record second only to league leaders Leicester. Their current form is mixed, having won only one in their last five, but a 1-1 draw against 3rd place Peterborough on Tuesday showed their strength at home.

Rovers will be without strikers Chris Greenacre and Craig Curran, while left-back Andy Taylor is a doubt. They may also be missing two internationals, in the form of Welsh goalkeeper Danny Coyne, who is definitely ruled out, and Jamaican defender Ian Goodison, rated by manager Ronnie Moore as having a "less than 50% chance" of featuring.

There are a fair few links between the two sides, with Dons midfielder Alan Navarro making two appearances on loan at Rovers, scoring one goal and impressing enough to join permanently in 2002. 43 appearances and three years later he left the club to join Accrington Stanley, before signing for Macclesfield Town and eventually linking up with Paul Ince.

Two ex-Dons could feature for Tranmere in the shape of the much-loved Gareth Edds, and former captain Ben Chorley. Ironically Edds gained hero status in Milton Keynes for a goal that saved the club from relegation to League Two, scored against Tranmere. That dramatic 2-1 Dons win was one of five meetings between the two sides, with each side winning one at Prenton Park before Tranmere's gut-wrenching 2-1 victory at the National Hockey Stadium courtesy of two late goals put the Dons on the road to relegation to League Two. The reverse of this fixture earlier in the season saw the Dons run out 1-0 winners thanks to Kevin Gallen's last goal in a Dons shirt.

The referee for the match will be Nottinghamshire's Russell Booth, and he will be assisted by Kevin Hayward of Staffordshire and Dean Mohareb of Cheshire. The fourth official will be David Unsworth of Greater Manchester, if he's not too busy playing for Huddersfield on the same day.