The MK Dons defender is not willing to accept average this season

Curtis Nelson said anyone not willing to be a part of a promotion push this season at MK Dons should not be at the club.

With the club eyeing back-to-back promotions after their second place finish last season to get out of League Two at the third time of asking, they kick off their League One campaign on Saturday against Oxford United - their first game in the division since May 2023.

No stranger to the level, or getting promotion out of it, Nelson said: “Being average is easy, it’s easy not to be good, to not work hard for a week. It’s extremely difficult to be successful week in, week out and get promoted. That’s the challenge I look forward to.

“I don’t think anyone would sit here and say we’re not going for promotion, and that can be at any club. If you’re going into a season on a negative, I wouldn’t want to start with that attitude.

“The goal is to always be competitive at our level. I feel like we’re ready. We’re in a great position.”

Having spent the final five months of last season playing League Two football, after several years in the second and third tier, Nelson admitted the difference between the levels is evident all over the pitch, though it is something Dons are fully prepared for given the personnel in the dressing room.

He said: “When you get up to League One, there is a bit more quality across the pitch and throughout the squad. The intensity grows, the physical and running stats all go up, and then again in the Championship as we saw against Norwich. They were full-tilt for 94 minutes. The quality goes up as well.

“When you give up opportunities, you might not get another chance. And that happens even more so in League One, but I think we’re more than capable of competing at this level.”