Devoy and Burns still getting up to speed with Dons’ demands

The debut performance from Dawson Devoy showed glimpses of what he can bring to MK Dons this season, but Liam Manning says he still needs work to get to grips with the demands of English football.

The 20-year-old netted eight goals in the League of Ireland this year, but was not included in Dons’ matchday squads for their first two games of the campaign.

His showing against Sutton United though showed promise of his potential, with some smart driving runs, good passes and a deft assist to get Conor Grant’s first goal of the season.

Similar can be said for Darragh Burns too, who also made the switch from the League of Ireland in the summer, who stood out in the Carabao Cup win on Tuesday.

With the higher demands and number of games in League One, Manning says both Devoy and Burns will need time to bring themselves up to the levels expected of them.

He said: “There are some really talented players in the League of Ireland but the demands and training programmes are so different, so it takes time for them to adapt to the intensity of our schedule, our 55 games season and the sheer demands we put on them, for example physically or the number of meetings we have with them.

“Those things take time. We know they've got ability, it's just about adapting them to how we work.

“(Dawson’s) got some really good qualities. He made a terrific pass for the goal, with the vision and awareness to reverse it like that was outstanding.

“(Darragh) is direct, his one-on-one ability, he had numerous good opportunities too which he'll be disappointed not to have scored with.

“We're delighted to have them and it's on them to get up to speed and on us to help them through that.”