Victory is vital for both sides in this fixture. A win would push Burton Albion up into the top six and into the fiery cauldron which is the playoff places. Whereas MK Dons are hoping to stretch the gap between them and the relegation zone to six points. 

  • Team news

Burton Albion

The Brewers have a few possible absentees ahead of the evening's kick-off. Both Colin Daniel and David Templeton are likely to miss out completely as they both were forced off in the Brewers 1-0 home victory against Fleetwood Town just 4 days ago. Kieran Wallace will be assessed just before kick-off as he continues his recovery from illness which has caused him to miss the last few fixtures. New signing Conor Shaughnessy, will be assessed too, however, it is unlikely he will participate due to a hamstring injury.

Shaughnessy comes in on-loan, will a view to a permanent move from Leeds United. The defensive midfielder, who can also play across the back-line, has previously been at Scottish Premiership side Hearts and earlier this season played 19 times for Mansfield Town.

MK Dons

Dons Alex Gilbey will be assessed leading up to kickoff. The midfielder had to leave field during the side's 1-1 draw with Coventry City.

MK Dons will otherwise have no current injury concerns. The side will also see the returning Jordan Moore-Taylor, who comes back following a knee injury.

Managers thoughts:

Burton Albion:

Nigel Clough says his side are in high spirits. Speaking to the club's official website, he targets a good performance once again from his side: 

“We have won four out of our last five league games and we go into Tuesday night in good spirits.

“It is a massive game for us as if we can get three points that puts us even closer and then we have a ten-day break before another home game.”

Clough believes the opportunity to move up the table and finish the day in the top six should give his players extra motivation, he said

“Knowing we could be in the top six if results go our way is an incredible incentive for us and all the players are all aware of that and were looking at the table and checking their phones after Saturday.

“What we have to do is take that performance from Saturday into tomorrow."

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MK Dons

Speaking to the Dons official website, manager Russell Martin said this ahead of the fixture: 

“It feels like we're growing, building and learning together. I think we can be as good as any team in this division. It won't be easy and we'll continue to have some ups and downs. We need to move away from the relegation zone, first and foremost, but we're slowly clawing our way up.”

  • Previous meetings

The two sides have faced just once before. The game came earlier this season, where Burton travelled to Stadium MK. The Brewers were heavy winners that day, with a 0-3 victory. Goals from Oliver Sarkic and a Liam Boyce brace were enough to seal all three points back in October. 

Another three points in this fixture, and the Brewers will have won five of their last six league fixtures, with Nigel Clough calling the game tonight "massive". 

Kick off is at 19:45 at the Pirelli Stadium.