Dons boss earns Manager of the Month nomination

Graham Alexander has been nominated for League Two’s Manager of the Month for August after his side’s flying start to the season.

Four wins out of five in August saw MK Dons sitting atop the division in Alexander’s first month in charge at Stadium MK, with wins over Wrexham, Tranmere, Colchester and Doncaster. Dons scored 12 goals in their opening five matches too, including five on opening day against pre-season league favourites Wrexham.

He faces competition for the first monthly gong from Gillingham’s Neil Harris, Johnnie Jackson of AFC Wimbledon and former Dons assistant manager Luke Williams, now in charge of Notts County.

County are back in the EFL after four years, and despite losing 5-1 on the opening day of the season to Sutton United, Williams has shown his faith in the players who earned promotion for County in May,picking up 10 points from their four subsequent games in August.

Gillingham’s form since the turn of 2023 meant that Harris’s side entered the new season with roaring expectations that would be hard to meet. Four 1-0 victories from their first four of five games only stoked the optimism in Kent still further.

The AFC Wimbledon board kept faith with Jackson in spite of a second-half slump last season. He rewarded them with an unbeaten start and nine points gained from five games, three away from home, and only two goals conceded.

Battling it out for the Player of the Month prize are Newport striker Will Evans, Mansfield front man Davis Keillor-Dunn, Swindon’s Jake Young and Abo Eisa - brother of Dons’ hitman Mo - of Bradfrord City.

Winners will be announced at 6am on Friday.