Dons want to do business early in January

MK Dons will definitely be bringing players in next month when the January transfer window opens, and Russell Martin wants his deals wrapped up as soon as possible.

The new year market is often a difficult one for clubs to negotiate, leaving business until the last minute for both incoming and outgoings.

Getting business done though is a matter of urgency for Martin, who already has his targets lined up, and he wants his signing completed as quickly as possible.

He said: "We're still lining up our top targets, and then it's about having a contingency plan to move on to. January is more difficult, and with covid, but we know what we want to do.

"I'm comfortable with what we're going to try and do, but we want to do it early. January tends to drag on, clubs hold out for a better deal and leave it later. It was one of my frustrations last year, seeing how other clubs operated and then on the last day, wanting to do loads of business. We will try and do it differently, but it is in the hands of the other clubs. We'll be doing business though, no doubt about it.

"We have weekly recruitment meetings. Our biggest problem though has been not being able to watch players live this season. It makes things a lot harder, so we have to rely on character references from people, video analysis and data.

"We're clear on what we need to help the team move forward, and I think we're one or two players away from being really strong."

With both Carlton Morris and Matthew Sorinola linked with moves away from Stadium MK in January, Martin said he doesn't expect anyone to leave.

We know there's interest in a lot of our players," he added. "We'll do our best to hold onto them. I can't see anyone going in January, or needing to sell – we're in a pretty good place at the moment, and I hope that's not a bridge we will have to cross until the summer."