The Dons face Rochdale at ‘The Meadow of Kings’ this weekend, ahead of a mid-week trip to Newport (that surely won’t go ahead?!) and next weekend’s sojourn down the A3 to Portsmouth, which is already a sell-out for away fans.
With 3 games scheduled in 7 days this will be a testing time for the Dons squad which has apparently been ravaged by flu this week. In addition to the long-term injuries of Strutton, Frampton, and Sweeney, the Dons will be without Kennedy, while Morris and Antwi are doubts and the whole of the Dons squad have had flu jabs to prevent further casualties.
Stuart Douglas confirmed that Strutton is unlikely to play again this season while Frampton is still 8 weeks away from recovery. The prognosis for Sweeney is less clear however with further medical opinion sought over whether the player is ready to return after a broken metatarsal.
Meanwhile, Callum Kennedy`s ankle was confirmed not to be broken after going off against Exeter. The left back had an injection and has been wearing a protective ankle cast but will not resume training until next week so will not be ready for Saturday’s game. Aaron Morris went off with a groin injury with ten minutes left against Oxford while Antwi tweaked a hamstring injury in the same game but both should be fit to face The Dale.
Promotion chasing Rochdale are 9 points ahead of the Dons, up in 6th, and only narrowly lost out to Dagenham in their last outing, although manager Hill is unlikely to make many changes. On the bench in that game was former Dons loanee George Porter who signed for Rochdale on transfer deadline day having been released from Burnley. Porter`s loan spell with the Dons was somewhat unceremoniously ended last month when he was sent back to his parent club following a loss of form and amid rumours of a training ground bust up. Having put in some promising performances for the Dons earlier in the season it will be interesting to see what kind of reception Porter gets.
The Dons beat The Dale 2-1 away from home earlier in the season, in a game that was temporarily suspended due to ‘force majeure’ with a lightning strike taking out one of the Spotland floodlights! Should lightning strike twice this weekend, that result would see the scorer of the Dons’ winner claiming the club’s 1,000th league goal since it re-formed in 2002.
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