Championship ambitions for Dons keeper David Martin

Returning to League 1 with a crash rather than a soft landing has been tough for MK Dons, but keeper David Martin feels their stint in the Championship has only whetted the appetite to return.
David MartinDavid Martin
David Martin

The keeper, who is out of contract at the end of this, his seventh season at Stadium MK, has made no secret about his desire to return to the second tier after an anticlimactic relegation last time out.

“I personally found it to be an anticlimax, coming back to League 1,” he said. “It was hard to mentally deal with, but you’re a professional footballer and you’ve got to go through that, and take it on.

“Because I’ve been here for so long, I’m used to fighting for promotion and playing in the Championship. This is a Championship club and it’s up to the lads to make sure it happens.

“Last season was doom and gloom towards the end. But when you see who and where we were playing, big, big games, I loved it.

“I loved it even though it was hard every week, I loved playing in the Championship. It’s about being back there. When it got taken away, that’s when you feel the hurt more."

Martin though still feels if Dons can string a run together, a late play-off charge isn’t out of the question.

He said: “Football is a funny old game, and I would never rule out anything. We’re all looking up. Three wins on the trot can fire you right up there.

“It’s about getting our scoring run back and keeping clean sheets.

“It’s a game of goals - we’ve just got to score more than the opposition. It sounds simple, I know, but it’s also a game of mistakes.”