Football Season Guide

Despite seeing his side failing to make the play-offs in back to back seasons and having to deal with losing his best players on a consistent basis, Karl Robinson is not giving up on his dream of guiding MK Dons into the Championship. The young manager sounded like a man on a mission in most of his summer interviews, and, by his own admission, spent a lot of time scouting players and looking for the best deals in the summer market. The Dons used the summer window to get rid of some of the dead wood in their squad, but the list of those who departed also includes a real key player for them in Stephen Gleeson, who joined Birmingham. Interestingly enough, the Dons have not signed a direct replacement for the central midfielder so far, as Robinson has been mainly focused on bringing in strikers. He signed two interesting players in Will Grigg and Tom Hitchcock, and Grigg will particularly be in the spotlight going into the new campaign, as it is hard to see the Dons not pushing for promotion if the Northern Ireland international manages to rediscover the form he showed for Walsall two years ago. Experienced Crawley defender Kyle McFadzean also joined, as has Danny Green, who will not be seen as a completely new signing, having spent time on loan with the club last season. Robinson will probably be keen to bring in more signings over the upcoming weeks, as the Dons have a rather small squad, and need more strength in depth in order to be able to cope with the demands of a lengthy League One season.