Dons had high hopes for the season but are left disappointed with lowly finish

Not many people would have jumped at finishing 19th in League One this season, not least MK Dons.

After the season was officially curtailed on Tuesday, Dons dropped a spot to Rochdale on points-per-game, finishing two places above the relegation zone - a far cry from where the club had anticipated finishing when the first kicked a ball back in August.

Starting the campaign under Paul Tisdale as Dons returned to the third tier, Executive Director Andrew Cullen said the club had eyes for the sharp end of the table, and a potential play-off battle was in their minds.

And if he was offered 19th at the start of the season, he admitted: "I think we'd be extremely disappointed. Our ambition, with the squad and budget we put together, should have seen us able to compete for a play-off spot – that's what we believed we could achieve.

"We had a mixed start, won away at Blackpool and everyone thought we'd be in the mix. But after that, we went on that dreadful run. We went into the season wanting to compete near the top. If you'd offered us 19th, we'd have been extremely disappointed.

"We kicked off a week later than everyone else because of Bury, we wondered whether we'd play Bolton with their problems, we had our own issues, changed the manager, Russ came in and steadied the ship and we started to climb away from a precarious position.

"And then we get to March and the drawbridge comes down, and football became very much secondary."

Nearly three months passed between the first postponed fixtures back in March until a decision was made on Tuesday to curtail the campaign, with relegation and automatic promotions confirmed, while a play-off campaign is in the making.

Dons stated early on their ambition was to go with the concensus and majority, which turned out to be overwhelming in the direction of accepting the EFL's recommendations rather than playing on.

Mr Cullen continued: "We were happy that we've got clarity. We've been waiting for weeks to find out whether we were coming back. We've worked through all the EFL protocols and return-to-play ones, and the hundreds of risk assessments which needed to be done. To have certainty now is good. We were ready to play on if we had to, but ultimately the financial considerations for clubs were the deciding factor.

"A lot of clubs are relieved, some are disappointed, but the overwhelming decision, and I mean overwhelming, from the clubs was to accept the EFL's recommendation and conclude on a points-per-game basis.

"The EFL's first priority was to do everything to get the games played and to give it sufficient time to do that. Once the Championship gave an indication they would come back, it made the decision slightly easier for the EFL because central incomes are 80 per cent to the Championship, 12 per cent to League One and eight per cent to League Two. You have to go through the proper processes and protocols, and that takes time."