Dean’s Dons debut and Devoy dealing with added responsibility

Max Dean’s first start for MK Dons had been a long-time coming.

The 19-year-old former Leeds United striker has been a semi-regular feature in Milton Keynes since he arrived from Elland Road in January.

Nine substitute appearances last season and two more this, Dean is a familiar and indeed a popular face to Dons supporters, but that first start proved illusive.

Two weeks ago, he bagged a brace in the EFL Trophy win over Chelsea U21s, but had to do so coming off the bench, having been ‘desperately unlucky’ not to be given a start, according to Graham Alexander.

After coming on in the first-half against Crewe for the injured Ash Hunter last week, Dean was finally rewarded with his first start for the club against Notts County at Stadium MK on Saturday, and he did not disappoint with a man of the match performance.

“He deserved it,” said head coach Alexander after the 1-1 draw with County. “He's got great energy in training, and is a constant goal threat, scores a lot of them too.

“He taps into the team ethic in working hard, intelligent pressing. He knows when to go and when not to. He's a real threat, he was unlucky not to get a goal but it was an excellent full debut for him.”

Devoy building momentum

Irish midfielder Dawson Devoy also looked impressive during the high-profile draw with County on Saturday.

The 21-year-old came into the side in the absence of injured MJ Williams a few weeks ago, and has kept his spot since in the key role just in front of the back three.

In sweltering conditions, Devoy covered a lot of ground doing the nitty-gritty work before running out of steam, and drew praise from Alexander.

He said: “Dawson is a young player, and he handled the ball really well today. We put a lot of responsibility on him to make the angles and take the ball, and he did that especially in the first-half. It needed a big shift from him to cover the pitch he did.”