'Let's see how far we've come' Liam Manning lays down the mantle ahead of MK Dons trip to Sunderland

MK Dons boss Liam Manning wants his side to 'show how far they've come' since their defeat against Sunderland earlier this season.

The Black Cats ran out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Stadium:MK but have been in fine form since the turn of the year, keeping five clean sheets and conceding just fine goals in that time.

In contrast, Sunderland have all but waved goodbye to their hopes of automatic promotion and must now focus on consolidating their play-off berth.

They'll host an MK Dons side that have propelled themselves up the table and have been a surprise package this season.

“It feels like a long time ago, right?” Manning said when asked about the 2-1 defeat earlier this season. “We came in on the Thursday night, we didn’t do anything on the Friday so the first thing we actually did was take the game - the group have been quite a journey since then.”

“That’s going to be the big thing for me on Saturday,” he said. “Let's see how far we've come, even more so going away up there with the challenge again of stepping up against a big club, which is something that they’ve done numerous times this season.

“I can't wait but more so in terms of seeing the guys play again - that's the bit that excites me more than anything.

“The number of fans, the size of the club we’re going up against and our league positions all make it great but how the guys are doing, how they are performing, hard they are working and the quality they are showing - that's what excites me.

“We will do our work and we will get prepared properly by doing the opposition analysis as best we can but then, when the game starts, it’s around our group sticking together and understanding how to get success in in the game.

“They have been terrific at that