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" What we have done up until now doesn't count for anything because the league is not decided at Christmas. It will be decided at the end of May so we have to try and do as well as we can in the next 22 games and just see where we stand after that. I think the top six or seven all still have a chance of going up and we have to play each other again, plus of course there is still lots of the season left to be played.
"Let's not forget this is a newly promoted team also. We are doing well but it is not like you get on the pitch and you just win games. You have to work hard in every game for the right to win points and that is exactly what we will keep on doing. We are happy to be back on track and playing games because obviously there was a big gap there and you lose a bit of freedom, so we are looking forward to the games.
" I have a lot of respect for Carlisle, they are a very good team. They have some good players and it shows in the fact that they won at Leeds, so that is a big, big result. So we will have to be on top of our game and in our best shape to get a result there. We have watched a few DVDs and got a few reports so we know how they play and there are quite a few teams that have changed manager since and they seem to have settled down a bit, but most important is what we are going to do. I wouldn't say that they have had some great results if you think about it.
" Undoubtedly though every game that you play is a battle and a tough game, especially away from home. I guess Carlisle is a long way from here so it will be a tough away trip for us. We are going there the day before because it is quite a long trip, it is going to take five or six hours to get up there and then obviously to get back as well.
" It seems that we can not have two weeks without problems here. It is unbelievable, we just seem to be having to deal with problems all the time. But I guess that is football and it's just life too, so we will have to see how it goes. The injury situation doesn't seem to get better, Peter Leven hasn't trained since the Colchester game, Jude Stirling is ill, Florian Sturm trained again today. Daniel Powell is ill as well so we have a few problems there. Flavien Belson is still recovering from injury also.
" I guess it is just in general, it is the day of the year where people pick up a virus or maybe a cold. There is not much that you can do, you try to prevent it in any form but it just happens. We will have to see about Peter Leven and see who is available for training on Friday morning. How they look, how they train, if they are fit and they are available, and then I will make the list up for the trip. "
In team news for the MK Dons tomorrow, as Di Matteo has alluded to, midfielder Peter Leven (groin), defenders Shaun Cummings and Jude Stirling, and striker Daniel Powell (all illness) are rated as 50/50 to take part in tomorrow's game. Other recently injured players that may miss the match are defender Danny Swailes (achilles), along with midfielders Flavien Belson (hip) and Florian Sturm (groin).
Suspension-wise midfielder Alan Navarro returns to the Dons squad after serving a one-match ban against Colchester on Monday night for picking up five bookings this season. Finally Jason Puncheon, signed on a one month loan deal from Plymouth in the afternoon before that game, got himself sent off for a dreadful tackle on Dean Hammond just after the hour mark, Puncheon now out of contention with a three-match ban.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Andy Haines from Sunderland, and he will be assisted down the lines by Martin Coy from Darlington and Garry Wallace from Houghton-le-Springs in County Durham. Meanwhile completing the North-East quartet as fourth official is Paul Davison from Spennymoor.