The south-west London side made a steady start to the season winning five of their opening 14 league matches; however, they have since been dragged into a relegation battle and sacked manager Glyn Hodges after a 0-2 defeat at home to bitter rivals MK Dons.
The club are currently still looking for a new permanent manager after the dismissal of fan favourite Hodges, with the likes of Alan Pardew and Danny Cowley being amongst the contenders to take over.
The Dons have come close to relegation in each of the last two seasons in League One finishing 20th in both campaigns and this season looks destined to be another where they are amongst the teams fighting it out at the bottom end of the table.
With the south-west London side currently sitting in 19th and just one point above the relegation zone, it is going to be very tough for any manager to be able to keep this struggling team in the third-tier come the end of the season.
Defeating the teams around them
Three of the Dons’ six league victories so far this season have come against teams in the bottom seven of the table including their most recent triumph which was a 2-3 win away to Wigan Athletic which ended their 11-match winless run.
Considering they are still due to play four out of the five teams below them at Plough Lane, picking up a maximum number of points from these games will surely be the Dons' greatest opportunity of staying in the division come May.
Reliance on Joe Pigott
The south-west London side have scored 29 league goals in so far this campaign with 27-year-old striker Joe Pigott being responsible for 13 of them.
The former Charlton Athletic striker struggled for goals last season only managing to find the back of the net on seven occasions in 34 league appearances but he has really found form this season and established himself as the Dons’ main man.
Arguably their best hope of remaining a third-tier club at the end of the campaign is Pigott remaining injury-free and keeping up his prolific goal-scoring form.
A chance for Mark Robinson to make a name for himself
Although current interim manager Mark Robinson lacks experience when it comes to managing at this level, he is certainly someone who knows the club inside out having worked for the Dons since 2004.
It would be easy for the owners to hire a big-name to come in and attempt to guide the team to survival; however, sometimes it is worth taking a risk on someone who is passionate about the club.
Of course, this could go one of two ways if they were to keep Robinson in charge until the end of the season, but if he were to be successful in keeping the club in the third-tier, this might well land him the job on a permanent basis.