FRENCHMAN Christopher Routis is poised for his League One bow as City bid to stop the rot at free-scoring MK Dons tonight.

With Alan Sheehan banned, Routis steps in to a back four that has come under the spotlight for the number of set-piece goals suddenly going in.

Phil Parkinson is also eyeing a potential loan target at left back, depending on the fitness of James Meredith, who has been feeling the after-effects of a chest infection he suffered a week ago.

At least, Mark Yeates is expected to be fit after the shoulder problem which forced him off early against Swindon and was able to train without a problem yesterday.

Parkinson said: “Yeatesy should be fine. His shoulder popped out but he’s had that before.

“He never stopped running on Saturday, made the goal and put another couple of good crosses in as well. He’s got the bit between his teeth.

“Chris deserves a chance and I’m looking forward to watching him play. His English is getting better and he’s communicating better on the training pitch.”

Routis impressed on his only previous outing against Oldham in the JP Trophy and Parkinson is confident he can strike up a solid partnership with Rory McArdle.

The Irishman was at fault for one of Swindon’s goals on Saturday and the City chief is desperate to iron out the individual errors at the back that are hurting his side.

Parkinson added: “Over the last three years, our record (defending set-pieces) is probably as good as anybody's in the country. We spend a lot of time organising and being thorough with our preparation for every game.

“I just think we’ve hit a period where individuals aren’t defending as well as they can. Some uncharacteristic lapses have cost us from players who have been outstanding.

“Everybody makes mistakes like that – look at the one Liverpool let in against Villa. It’s just we’ve let those goals in over the last two home games against teams who aren’t particularly big and strong.

“Each and everyone in the team is given a job to do and they’ve got to do that to the best of their ability. Looking at the goals, I don’t think we’ve done that.”

Parkinson is monitoring Meredith’s health after the Australian struggled through City’s latest defeat. He was planning to talk with club doctor Vince Cavaliere before deciding if he needs to chase up loan cover.

“Hindsight’s a wonderful thing and although he missed the first few days of training last week, we probably weren’t aware how much Mezza was affected on Saturday.

“He’s such a keen lad who always wants to play and convinced me he was 100 per cent. I’ll speak with the doctor but there is a possibility we might have to bring someone in.”

MK Dons, beaten only once so far, have won their last three – including that famous 4-0 thrashing of Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United in the Capital One Cup. They thrashed Barnsley 5-3 at Oakwell at the weekend after being 5-0 in front.

City won 3-2 at stadium:mk last season and Parkinson is relishing the challenge of tackling one of the division’s in-form sides.

He said: “They’ve had a good start and capped it with scoring five away from home. We know they’ve got threats but they did last year as well and we handled that.

“It’s a great challenge. I think it’s an opportunity for us to go down there and give a good account of ourselves.

“Do that and I feel we are a match for anybody. We want to come off the pitch having put in a real 90 minutes of professionalism and discipline.”

Dons boss Karl Robinson is spoilt for choice after Saturday’s win – which saw five different players on the score sheet.

Ben Reeves and Darren Potter could both return tonight although Kyle McFadzean, available again after suspension, is expected to be on the bench.