THE conditions will be different, but Lee Clark wants his players to reproduce the professional edge shown in the solid 2-1 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy win against Rotherham when Town resume League I action at MK Dons tomorrow (3.00).
While the debate over the state of the Don Valley Stadium pitch is likely to be reignited when the Millers host Chesterfield in League II, Clark, who has made his feelings about the Sheffield surface clear to the Football League in writing, has no concerns at StadiumMK.
"It’s a magnificent stadium and a magnificent pitch, and with both sides wanting to play football, it’s got the makings of a cracker," said Clark, who will discover Town’s JPT second-round opponents when the draw takes place live on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM show tomorrow morning.
"As I said on Tuesday, the professionalism my players displayed really pleased me.
"It would have been easy to use the pitch as an excuse for producing a below-par display, but that was far from the case, and having watched the game again on DVD, I was struck by how many chances we created."
Clark, who has joint six-goal top scorers Jordan Rhodes (rested on Tuesday) and Theo Robinson (ankle injury) back in contention, is also desperate for a first clean sheet.
"We’ve got one of the best young keepers in the business in Alex Smithies on our hands," he said.
And with the way he’s been playing, he really deserves to chalk one up, but it’s all about a collective team effort," added the boss, who also has Gary Roberts back from suspension and Danny Drinkwater (groin) available again.
"It’s not going to be easy, because MK Dons are unbeaten in the league and have some very good footballers under the guidance of an excellent manager in Paul Ince.
"For whatever reason, it didn’t work out for him in the Premier League (at Blackburn), but he did a good job in his first spell at Milton Keynes, and there’s every reason to think he’ll do the same again.
"But we have our own aspirations, and it’s all about going down there and imposing ourselves on the game."
