MK Dons have slipped out of the top three in League Two once more and now face a real battle to get back into the automatic promotion spots.

They face a final day date with destiny, a game against Mansfield at Stadium: MK which will surely result in the winners going up and the losers facing a torrid time in the play-offs.

The four teams in the play-off spots are all in good form, but MK Dons have stumbled a little more than most. If they were to face Exeter City in the semi-final matches it would be a match overshadowed by Paul Tisdale, a former Grecians legend now at the helm.

Tranmere and Forest Green, likely to be two teams in the play-offs, have both been on good runs of form. They both play adventurous, attacking football and could be good bets to progress to the final instead of the Dons.

The job Tisdale did with Exeter, year after year, was remarkable, but this season his new side have every right to be largely disappointed with their placing.

Fourth wouldn’t seem such a bad place to be right now, one point from second with their fate in their own hands. If they beat Mansfield and match their result this weekend, they’d be up. Actually doing it is the hard part.

They blew their chance to catch Lincoln City earlier this month, losing 2-0 at home in front of 15,000 fans. It was a huge occasion for both teams, but Paul Tisdale couldn’t get the better of his opposite number.

When you consider the players available to the 46-year-old, they really should be doing much better.

Both Chuks Aneke and Kieran Agard are known goal scorers and for a while, both were firing. Losing Rhys Healy in the January window derailed their push for a top-three spot somewhat, but had those two players been deployed in the right areas and using the right approach, they could have bagged 20 each.

At Exeter, a defensive approach paid dividends because they played to their strengths. They had fine footballers at the back, were well organised and had a tight ground that made for a hostile atmosphere.

That approach doesn’t lift over to MK Dons. They were the big hitters this season, not only because of Aneke and Agard, but the likes of Moore-Taylor, Cisse and Gilbey. They should have been challenging for the title but instead, they’ve struggled to get ahead of Bury and Mansfield.

Their fans, used to a higher level of football, have every right to be disappointed with their performance and if they don’t go up this season, Paul Tisdale will surely have to rethink his cautious, defensive strategy.