McLeod and McFadzean go head to head in Sky Bet League One clash
Izale McLeod returns to his former club today determined to put on a performance for his current employers.
Reds’ leading scorer had two spells with the Dons, scoring 73 goals in 183 League and Cup appearances before he was released at the end of last season.
Izale still lives in Milton Keynes and a lot of today’s opponents will be familiar to him, even though MK boss Karl Robinson has rebuilt his squad in anticipation of a play-off push this summer.
Izale said: “It’s going to be interesting going back, especially this early in the season. It’s strange to think that only four months ago I was a Dons’ player and it will be nice to see a lot of familiar faces at the club.
“But it’s business. And for me that means putting in a shift for Crawley and hopefully helping us get three points. It’s a big game for us. We have lost the last three and even though we have played well in our last two games we need to get a result.”
Izale is likely to be marked by a familiar face to Reds’ fans, Kyle McFadzean. The defender played 157 games for the club in four years before he joined Dons in June. He has been an ever present this season and has already scored two goals for his new club.
McFadzean played a starring role in MK’s stunning 4-0 Capital One Cup success over Manchester United on Tuesday and is looking to kick on against his old club today.
He said: “There is no point beating Manchester United 4-0 only to go and drop points in the league - we need to build on the result," he told www.mkdons.com
“It will be just as hard a game with points to play for and if we want to be competitive this season, we need to win our home games.
“If we can’t take confidence from the United result then there’s something not quite right. The league is our priority and the Gaffer reminded us of that both before and after the game - he even made changes in the second half with one eye on Saturday.
“Crawley will be difficult opponents, we are all aware of that. John Gregory is a good manager and his sides are always hard working and organised so it will be a tough contest.
“Crawley are a terrific club and they really helped me during my time there. I really enjoyed my time with them. Getting the two promotions was probably the highlight although we got to fifth round of the FA Cup twice and that was great too.”
