Healey worried about his role when Martin took charge of MK Dons

It's hard to believe there was a time when top-scorer Rhys Healey wondered whether he was a part of Russell Martin's plans at MK Dons.

The former Cardiff City striker spent three months sidelined with a calf injury, coinciding with the dismal run of results which cost Paul Tisdale his job in charge.

Martin, who had only played with Healey on a handful of occasions before taking over the manager's hotseat, admitted he asked for more from Healey when the striker returned from injury and took him out of his comfort zone.It certainly worked though, with Healey scoring nine goals on his return to add to his three early season strikes.

But looking in from the treatment room, Healey admitted there were times when he was worried about how he would fit into the new manager's plans.

He said: "When you get injured, you're outside of that loop – you're in the treatment room when the lads are out training, so you're not a part of it in that way. When Russ took over, of course there were times when I wondered whether he wanted me, or whether the coaches were working on things that would play to my strengths.

"But Russ came to me and told me how he thought I would fit in, what he felt I should work on, and that put me at ease."

During their terrible run between October and November, Dons suffered without injured strikers Healey, Joe Mason and Sam Nombe - even academy frontman Jay Bird was out - but Healey said he was under no added pressure to come back any quicker. Instead, he focussed on helping the likes of Nombe and Bird, urging them to remain patient during teh rehabilitation process.

"I was under no pressure to come back quicker," Healey said. "The only pressure I felt was from myself. I've had big injuries before so I know not to rush back until I'm ready.

"I think it was good to have Sam Nombe and Jay Bird in there as well, because I could pass on my experience in that sense, making sure they know that it's important not to rush themselves back, only to get injured again."