Dons don't just want to make up the numbers in League One next season
Plans are already underway for League One and MK Dons was keen to be at the sharp end
Simply competing in League One is not on the agenda for MK Dons next season, according to chief executive Neil Hart.
After securing their return to the third tier after three seasons in League Two on Saturday, Dons have the chance to win the league next weekend against Fleetwood should they match or better Bromley’s result against Walsall.
Knowing albeit only a week earlier of their fate for next season, Hart said he and owner Fahad Al Ghanim, who celebrated on the pitch with the players on Saturday following the 3-0 win over Tranmere Rovers, are already planning with head coach Paul Warne about what they want to achieve next season, with a top-six spot their aim.
“I think we're going to be a bit more ambitious than survival (next season),” he said. “We want to go up and be competitive and give ourselves the best chance of being in the top six region, that's where we want to be.
“It's still April and we're done, we know our destiny, come August we know we're playing in League One, so we've got to get that planning in place, we've got to be clear in what we're doing.
“Clearly we've got to bring some more quality into the squad, clearly there's work to do off the pitch and we've got to position the club financially so we can go and compete, and that work is under way.”
More than 13,000 fans were in attendance at Stadium MK to watch Dons secure promotion in the final home game of the season, the club’s second biggest attendance of the season after the successful Community Day in February which attracted a crowd of 23,465.
Keen to build the fanbase further following the club’s promotion, Hart continued: “We should be definitely (in the Championship) and that's where we want to be.
“We want 20,000 to 25,000 people in that stadium week in, week out, but we've got to deliver the football and we've got to get it right, and that's what we're trying to do.
“There's a lot of work to get there, but we want to realise the ambition, not just the stadium, but the size of the city and the region, and we want to give people a club to be proud of and come and support to get involved in.”