Dons will be judged on outgoings rather than incomings

With the transfer window closing on Friday evening, it was a day of frustration for MK Dons fans.

Despite bringing in 13 players, it will be four major outgoings which will ultimately define their window for most this year.

Back in February, if you were told Dons would be without Alex Gilbey, Rhys Healey, Callum Brittain and Sam Nombe this season, you could be forgiven for thinking it was footballing suicide from a team fighting the drop. But whether you are willing to accept it or not, the financial state of not just MK Dons but football in the third and fourth tiers has put priorities in a slightly different position for the time being.

Instead of focussing on where they can bolster their playing squad, trying to protect jobs in the rest of the business has been top priority for the Dons board. After initially saying sales of Gilbey and Healey weren't essential to the club, the tone changed significantly after football was dealt the blow in late September that fans were not going to be allowed back into stadiums in October. Months of expected income were suddenly gone, and the mentality of the money men had to change. But that does not soothe or sate the fanbase who has watched what looks like a firesale at their football club.

There was perhaps an air of inevitability about departures, irrespective of the pandemic. Russell Martin was still trying to make his mark on a squad built by Paul Tisdale but with like-for-like replacements not immediately forthcoming, it has left a bitter taste in the mouth, especially with the calibre of player - fan favourites and goal-scorers - leaving.

Of course there have been plenty of incomings though. The signings of Richard Keogh and Scott Fraser look astute, Cameron Jerome is yet to be proven in League One after years in the Premier League and Carlton Morris was the man so many fans wanted to be first on the shopping list when the window opened. The disappointment of what was lost though will overshadow what was brought in.

Are the sales of the players keeping afloat other parts of the business, in the same way other parts of the business have contributed to Dons' finances in the past? The answer? Probably, but one hand washes the other.

Ultimately the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and Dons' performances on the pitch: whether they get points on the board and whether they drag themselves away from the foot of the table where they find themselves at the moment. A win tomorrow against Gillingham is so desperately wanted and needed, and for more reasons than the league table.