Fitness is coming to the fore for Dons during the run-in

Goalkeeper Michael Kelly believes MK Dons' fitness levels will help them in the final ten games of the season.

The tough pre-season campaign put in place by former boss Graham Alexander had a heavy focus on fitness and endurance, and those benefits are beginning to show on the pitch, with Dons' midfield engine covering a lot of ground in games.

While Kelly said, as the keeper, his endurance is more mental, he feels the players in front of him are putting in the hard yards and it is helping them pick up points during this busy period of games.

He said: "It is different for me, it's more mental fatigue, compared to players like Gilbs, Kempy, Lofty and Joe cover ridiculous distances day in and day out. For them, it's about managing what they do during the week and then producing in games when it matters.

"It's good to have tired bodies, it shows the games mean a lot and they're putting everything into it.

"Everyone can see how much ground we cover, people who are coming on are impacting games as well. We're all putting a shift in to optimise it for the weekend."