Milton Keynes Dons

Neilson’s Dons boast one of the better home records in the division since the turn of the year but face their toughest challenge at the weekend against a Blades outfit who have won eight of their last nine matches and have been good value for their title success.

“We’re looking forward to it and hopefully we can put on a good performance and get a good result,” Neilson said in his pre-match press conference.

“Full credit to them on winning the league title. They’ve been by far the best team and the most consistent.

“They’ve got a really strong squad – they’ve got real quality in the striking department, a strong defence that doesn’t give up too many goals and they’ve got midfielders who are very mobile

“They certainly merit where they are in the league and it’s up to us now to try and prove we can match them.”

Here’s what else Neilson had to say ahead of this weekend’s match...
Contract situation
“I’ve spoken to the majority of (out-of-contract) players but that’s something we’ll bring out at the right times. It’s important we are very respectful of the players who are leaving the Club, some of whom have been really good servants to the Club as well.”

Planning for next year
“When we first came in the priority was to make sure we were safe so that we could start planning for last year. The club was in a difficult position but the players have done really well to stabilise that. It’s meant we can start planning ahead – getting ahead of the game when it comes to speaking to people. It’s now a case of getting the right players in and making sure we’re ready for next season.”

George Baldock fit for Saturday
“George is good and he’ll be fine for the game on Saturday. We took him out of the line-up on Monday because he got a knock in the previous game – a pretty badly-bruised foot. He couldn’t complete the warm-up but we put him on the bench and he was willing to give us a couple of minutes at the end.”

“It’ll be great. They’ve sold out their allocation and we’ll have a decent turnout too so it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Expecting an excellent atmosphere

“I’m sure he’ll get a good (reception). He was very well-liked here, not only by the fans but by the players and staff too. I only worked with him for about a month but I thought his attitude was great and he was a good, quality player. I’m sure he’ll be coming back wanting to do well.”
Samir Carruthers’ return

“It’s a really tough game for us on Saturday so I think it’s one where we’ll need the experience of some of the older players. It will be difficult to put the young boys in for this one but we’ve got another game after that where we’d like to give them all a little more game time.”
Experience over youthfulness in the starting XI this weekend