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Neil Lennon heads to stadium:mk for the first time tonight looking to end Wanderers' away hoodoo and get one over his good friend Karl Robinson in the process.
The Whites have won just once in their last 11 away league games – at Cardiff on Easter Monday in April – which is a statistic the manager is keen to change – possibly by using a different approach.
But he knows Dons boss Robinson – a man who earned his coaching stripes alongside Lennon – won't make it easy for his side tonight.
Lennon told The Bolton News: "We haven’t been great away from home.
"You want to be a bit more dogmatic and resolute but maybe that’s not the way to go.
"Maybe we should just send the players out a bit more positive and gamble a bit more.
"We’ll see what tonight brings but you do look at different things.
"We will analyse them and decide which is the best way to go."
Lennon is full of praise for his opposite number who he calls one of his best friends in the game – not that it will matter for 90 minutes tonight.
The Whites boss added: "I know Karl Robinson very well – he’s one of my best friends in football.
"I was delighted for him last season to get promotion.
"I am really pleased to see him in the Championship – he has waited a long time for that and has been knocking on the door for a while.
"He’s been there quite a while and built a really good foundation there at the club.
"He is well supported by the chairman there and they seem to have a really good relationship.
"That gives stability and he is probably one of the longest serving managers.
"His team play very good football – attacking-wise they score a lot of goals.
"They are still finding their feet at this level but had a great win on the opening day.
"So we know how difficult it is going to be.
"We did our coaching badges and pro licence together so we go back six or seven years.
"Iain Brunskill (Wanderers U21s coach) worked with Karl at Blackburn so there is a good relationship between the three of us.
"We keep regular contact and obviously we have loaned Rob Hall there again which we did last year.
"But the friendship will be let’s say competitive tonight."
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The Whites have won just once in their last 11 away league games – at Cardiff on Easter Monday in April – which is a statistic the manager is keen to change – possibly by using a different approach.
But he knows Dons boss Robinson – a man who earned his coaching stripes alongside Lennon – won't make it easy for his side tonight.
Lennon told The Bolton News: "We haven’t been great away from home.
"You want to be a bit more dogmatic and resolute but maybe that’s not the way to go.
"Maybe we should just send the players out a bit more positive and gamble a bit more.
"We’ll see what tonight brings but you do look at different things.
"We will analyse them and decide which is the best way to go."
Lennon is full of praise for his opposite number who he calls one of his best friends in the game – not that it will matter for 90 minutes tonight.
The Whites boss added: "I know Karl Robinson very well – he’s one of my best friends in football.
"I was delighted for him last season to get promotion.
"I am really pleased to see him in the Championship – he has waited a long time for that and has been knocking on the door for a while.
"He’s been there quite a while and built a really good foundation there at the club.
"He is well supported by the chairman there and they seem to have a really good relationship.
"That gives stability and he is probably one of the longest serving managers.
"His team play very good football – attacking-wise they score a lot of goals.
"They are still finding their feet at this level but had a great win on the opening day.
"So we know how difficult it is going to be.
"We did our coaching badges and pro licence together so we go back six or seven years.
"Iain Brunskill (Wanderers U21s coach) worked with Karl at Blackburn so there is a good relationship between the three of us.
"We keep regular contact and obviously we have loaned Rob Hall there again which we did last year.
"But the friendship will be let’s say competitive tonight."
Source