GARY Waddock lavished praise on his players following Tuesday’s 3-0 win at Tranmere Rovers but says they will have to up it by another notch if they are to get anything at MK Dons tomorrow.

The Blues have kept their survival hopes alive with back-to-back wins this week for only the second time this season – but Waddock says the going is about to get much tougher.

They comprehensively beat Hartlepool 2-0 on Saturday and followed up with another clean sheet and three points with Tuesday’s win at Tranmere.

But boss Waddock says the players will have to better both of those performances if they are to emerge from the Bucks derby with survival hopes still intact.

He said: “The players have performed fantastically in the last two games but they are going to have to step it up by at least another notch tomorrow.

“MK Dons have got some fantastic players and any team Paul Ince puts out is going to compete and be fully committed.”

The Dons have not won in seven and they were booed off by their own support after being held 0-0 at home by struggling Oldham in midweek.

Some fans have got the knives out for Ince and the former Manchester United ace hit back at them by claiming their support makes home matches feel like reserve games.

But Waddock says all of that that doesn’t make it a good time to run into them.

He said: “It can work both ways and there could be a real backlash from them. We are not going to know until 5pm how they react.

“They have got their problems and we have got ours – and our problem is getting ourselves out of the relegation zone.

“We have got to go out there and put on a really good performance and the players are doing that at the moment.

“It’s a big opportunity for us but a really tough opportunity.”

Waddock will stick with the side that have strung two straight wins together.

That means keeping right back Lewis Hunt at centre half in place of injured skipper Adan Hinshelwood and keeping midfielder John Mousinho at right back.

Waddock said: “Those round pegs have done extremely well in in the square holes.

“We’ve kept a couple of clean sheets and scored a few goals so is there anything I need to change?

“Those players have put us in this position and now we are looking at them to continue it.”

Wanderers are still six points off safety with just four matches to go, so as well as needing to keep winning they are also looking for favours off other teams.

But Waddock insists he is not interested in the run-ins of Wanderers’ drop zone rivals.

He said: “What’s the point? None of it matters if we don’t win our games.

“We want to win every game, as simple as that, and then we will see where it takes us.”

While Wanderers expect to be unchaged, the Dons look set to make changes.

Dave McCracken, who captained Wycombe to promotion last term before defecting to Stadium MK, looks set to return after suspension.

And Blues will be up against another former player in the shape of Jermaine Easter who is the Dons top scorer despite being moved onto the wing.

MK could also make changes in midfield with 40-year-old player coach Alex Rae expected to make way.