Rochdale struck the woodwork twice in the first-half, as they were held to a goalless draw by MK Dons at the Crown Oil Arena.
Scott Wooton turned Matty Done’s cross onto the face of his own crossbar inside the first ten minutes, before Andy Cannon’s fizzing effort came back off the underside of the bar.
Dale had chances, but couldn’t find any clear cut openings in a second-half which neither side dominated.
Keith Hill named an unchanged starting line-up from Sunday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur, and Dale started strongly, hitting the woodwork twice in the opening 13 minutes.
Mark Kitching and Kieran Agard both exchanged efforts wide from distance, before the MK Dons crossbar was rattled for the first time in the ninth minute.
Matty Done found space on the left and put in a dangerous cross the near post, where Scott Wooton turned the ball onto the face of his bar.
Dale’s best chance fell Andy Cannon’s way four minutes later, when he was picked out by Callum Camps’ clever through ball. He turned onto his left foot, before rattling an effort off the underside of the crossbar.
Done and Ousseynou Cisse both sent efforts wide from outside the area for either side, before Dale came inches away from breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark.
Joe Rafferty’s low ball across the face of goal from the right side was missed by everyone, with the cross flashing just in front of the sliding Stephen Humphrys. Kitching returned the ball back into the area, but Humphrys looping header dropped over MK Dons goal.
The visitors had a decent spell following that moment, with Agard forcing Josh Lillis into a save from a one-on-one situation with the Dale stopper held.
Cannon saw a left-footed effort held by Lee Nicholls, and Humphrys had a shot deflected wide after being picked out by Camps as Dale finished the half the stronger of the two sides.
The final chance of the opening period fell Cannon’s way. Ryan Delaney’s searching diagonal ball found Ian Henderson, who found Cannon inside, but his shot was held by Nicholls with a diving save to his left.
Steven Davies and Scott Wiseman replaced Humphrys and Rafferty just before the hour mark, shortly before Camps had a low shot comfortably held and Henderson headed Done’s left-wing cross wide of the near post.
Substitute Wiseman made a strong block from Agard who turned and shot after a low corner found its way to him, whilst Cannon’s well executed volley from 20-yards was held well by Nicholls, in what was the last effort on target of a goalless draw.