Finishing in the top three is not make or break for Warne

Automatic promotion is not the be all and end all for MK Dons this season, but Paul Warne would be hugely disappointed to be playing League Two football again next term.

Installed as the heavy favourites to win the fourth tier, not just be one of four teams to go up, Dons are desperate to avoid another season like last where they finished a miserable 19th in the division - their lowest ever.

Opting for Warne to lead them this season, a man well-versed in promotions albeit from League One, and making big signings like Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Aaron Collins this summer, has only firmed up Dons’ moniker as the team expected to lead the way.

Finishing in the top three though is not an essential for Warne, speaking a little over two weeks before the season starts, but as long as Dons are celebrating in May, he does not mind how it happens.

“Not if we get promoted,” he said when asked if automatic promotion was essential. “There is no guarantee we will get in the play-offs. We don’t know what is going to happen. Everyone feels great, has a new kit, has perfect grass on their pitch and all 24 teams think they will have an amazing season.

“If we don’t go up, I’ll be disappointed of course. However, over the course of the season, a lot of things can happen. If we perform to our max all season and don’t go up, I know there have been three amazing teams out there.

“There will be really good teams in the league. Cambridge will be really good and I think Gillingham will be good too.

“I’m not arrogant enough to think we should get automatic, but it’s what we’re aiming for.”