A tale of two pictures for David Kasumu

Posing for a picture alongside the rest of the Dons academy products on Wednesday gave David Kasumu a few flashbacks to his own debut four years ago.

Then 16, Kasumu made his debut at Rodney Parade as manager Karl Robinson named 13 academy products in his EFL Cup match-day squad. They all posed on the pitch after the game as a sign of how far the club's academy had come.

Against Southampton U21s on Wednesday, four years later, Kasumu was wearing the captain's armband, standing alongside eight other academy products and posed for a similar picture after the full-time whistle.

"In that picture I’m the second oldest next to Laurie!" said Kasumu. "It gives me flash backs to all them years ago against Newport. You had a lot of senior players at the time, it is a weird feeling to be honest. It’s something I take a lot of pride in and it’s a huge positive."

From that game in Wales, Kasumu has established himself as a first team regular under both Paul Tisdale and Russell Martin. Still only 21, Kasumu is approaching his 50th Dons appearance.

With five players making their debuts against Southampton, Kasumu was looked at as one of the senior players in the side.

He continued: "The cup games are such a big opportunity for everyone, even the young boys, to showcase their abilities and have the chance to play. Lewis went to my school, so seeing all the young boys aged 16/17 playing the way they did is inspiring. We’ve all been at that stage and I could see in their faces they were so happy. They’ll keep improving and making many more appearances.

"They didn’t look out of depth, you can see that have confidence in the way they are playing. We should’ve taken all three points from that game and it would’ve been a better night for the young lads. They can keep their heads high as that performance will only improve them in the future."

Being handed the captain's armband, Kasumu feels like he is one of the players the youngsters will look to, and use his progression as their own inspiration for their careers.

He said: "It was an unreal feeling being told I was going to captain the boys, I was honoured. The route I’ve taken from the academy into the first team and making my debut at a young age like the young players did – it’s what every academy player wants to do. The academy players will look at that and want to achieve it for themselves.

"They can do that, it’s about hard work, I told them it could be regular thing if they keep working hard. I will be someone that the young players can look at for advice. It’s something that they can achieve if they keep learning and take on the information."