Roberto Di Matteo has praised former chairman Pete Winkelman for being 'brave' enough to give him his break in football management.

The 39-year-old has jumped ship to Championship side West Brom after Winkelman plucked him from nowhere and gave him his first chance as a manager at stadium:mk almost exactly one year ago.

But after leading the Dons to third in League One in his debut season, the Italian has left for the Hawthorns.

"I'm very grateful to Dons and the chairman for letting me go and take this opportunity," said Di Matteo.

"The chairman was brave last season to give me a chance and it worked out well for both of us.

"Now I'm very much looking forward to taking the next step with West Brom."

And he told Baggies fans that he aims to take them straight back up to the Premier League.

"It's my philosophy is to play successful and winning football. We have our view on how we want to achieve that success.

"There is a very good team here and we will try our best to go back to the top flight."