The improved mood behind the scenes has players with smiles on their faces again

Paul Warne has only been in charge at MK Dons for a few months but he has already undone a lot of the negative elements hanging over from last season, according to Callum Hendry.

Dark clouds loomed large over the club from the turn of the year, with a torrid second-half to the season seeing them plummet from automatic promotion contenders to potential National League candidates come the end, there was not a lot to smile about at MK1.

While the club’s ‘culture’ was something of a buzzword at times last season, the changes put upon them, twinned with the ever-worsening results on the field made for a wholly negative feel around Stadium MK.

Warne’s arrival in April sparked a change in things behind the scenes for Dons. From redecorating the entrance ways, the tunnel and the dressing rooms, to creating a more open and honest environment, Hendry feels Warne has given the club a much-needed lift, providing a place for the players to enjoy coming to work again.

“The gaffer has made a really good culture at the club now,” he said. “We’re all pushing in the right direction.

“It’s dramatically different, and it had to be. Last year was not good enough, the culture was not good. Everyone inside the club knows that, and it’s just a different feel and it feels good.”

That feel-good factor built up over pre-season has given a lot of players a reason to smile ahead of the new campaign, not least Hendry, who continued: “This is how I should be as a footballer. My dad and my missus will tell you, I play better when I’ve got a smile on my face, and I’ve enjoyed it this summer.

“The boys are brilliant, the staff are great, but we really have to take it into next week.”