Dean dared to dream about his first year at MK Dons

Max Dean always had the confidence he would be sat, nearly a year after signing, as MK Dons leading front-man, but he might not have thought it would actually happen.

The club's top scorer this season, Dean has become the first choice striker with 11 goals in 21 appearances this term, starting every league game since Mike Williamson took over as head coach in October.

A January transfer window signing last year by Mark Jackson - the man who coached him to success in the Leeds United academy - the supporters, as well as Dean himself, were told to bide their time and that first-team opportunities would come down the line. A lively addition off the bench, Dean captured the fans' imagination with his heart-on-his-sleeve cameos, including his first career goal in the dramatic 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers. But without a start Dean remained an unknown quantity, and as the club dropped into League Two, those questions remained.

His chances under Graham Alexander remained few and far between, but took advantage when he could. He scored twice in his first run-out of the season against Chelsea U21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, before finally making his first league start in the head coach's final game - and he did his part by bagging a brace in the 2-2 draw with Barrow. Since then, Dean has hardly looked back.

Asked if he imagined his first year at the club to see him where he is now, Dean said he always thought he could be Dons' leading man, but did not expect it to really be the case.

"It's what I wanted to do, but probably not, no," he said. "I wouldn't have it any other way though, and I'm happy with it! Having that confidence is massive, it gives you that extra drive and belief you can do it.

"I've loved the majority of it - going down obviously wasn't good - but I made a bit of a slow start but I'm really enjoying it now. I'm playing a lot of football now, which is what everyone wants to do. I love everything about the club, the fans, the staff, the team. I'm loving it."

After seeing their unbeaten run in League Two come to an end on New Year's Day, Dean believes the side have shown they are capable of fighting at the top end of the table.

He continued: "It's where we want to be, up in the mix of things, in the play-offs and the autos. We want to go on another run like that, because they only help you in the long run at the end of the season.

"We haven't had many games recently, but we know there will be a lot coming up. When the run of games start coming, we can rebuild some of the momentum we had before Doncaster.

"You'll get games like that in a season, but we had a lot of good games in that spell. We won't get too disheartened by a bad 45 minutes. It's how we bounce back on Saturday."