Martin called Tisdale after he was offered job to replace him as manager

Russell Martin phoned Paul Tisdale after chairman Pete Winkelman offered him the job to replace the out-going MK Dons manager.

Tisdale guided Dons to promotion from League Two less than a year after taking over at Stadium MK, but was sacked in November after the club dropped into the League One relegation zone following the worst run in their history.

Martin, who was still on the playing staff at Dons at the time, took over from Tisdale less than 24 hours after the former Exeter man left his post, but made sure to call the man who brought him to Milton Keynes before it was made public.

"The first person I spoke to was my wife, and then the first person I called was Paul Tisdale," said Martin. "He brought me to the club, and I owe him a lot of thanks for that. I enjoyed working with him, we enjoyed promotion together the year before. So I called Paul to tell him I'd been offered the job and I wanted to take it, and he told me to go for it and offered me his best wishes.

"He's a really good guy and did a great job last year, it just didn't work out this year."

Martin, who hung up his boots upon taking the top job at Stadium MK, admitted had Tisdale not approached him while he was at Walsall, that he was likely to have retired from playing earlier and taken up a coaching role elsewhere.

He added: "I was really close to retiring before I came to MK Dons. I had an experience I didn't enjoy and thought maybe it was a signal to just stop playing. But when I got the call from Paul Tisdale about coming to MK, I was desperate to come.

"It ignited a spark in me again. From the moment I signed, I felt at home and really happy at the club. It's a second home for me now, I love it."