Four weeks felt like a lifetime for sidelined Dons midfielder Robson

It was only five games but Ethan Robson said his time out injured felt like a lifetime.

Picking up a hamstring problem after Dons’ 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers in the Papa John’s Trophy at the start of October, the midfielder, on loan from Blackpool, missed the rough patch of form his team-mates went through last month.

He returned to the bench but was an unused substitute in the 2-2 draw with Stevenage in the FA Cup last weekend before returning to the pitch for the final 20 minutes (which turned into 30 with the lengthy period of stoppage time) of Dons’ 4-1 win over Cambridge United on Saturday at Stadium MK.

Feeling no ill-effects of his injury, Robson said his on the sidelines has helped him work on other aspects of his game, but it felt like an awfully long time.

“It felt like a lifetime,” he said. “I was training within three weeks and was on the bench last week.

“When you return, no matter how long you’ve been out, you’re blowing a little bit until you get that second wind! I was just delighted to be back on the pitch.

“It was frustrating but that’s part of the game. I’m back now and I’m looking to get back to where I was and adding something to the team.

“It’s never nice to be injured, you want to be in with the boys. But when you’re injured, you have to use your time working on other things, like stuff in the gym, off-the-ball aspects and analysis. You just have to take it on the chin but try and take positives.”

Dons take on League Two’s Stevenage tomorrow night in the FA Cup first round relay at the Lamex Stadium, and Robson said he hopes to play a part in the game to help the club into the second round.

He said: “I hope I’m involved tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the game, and I’m delighted to be back amongst he boys.

“It will be a tough game. We saw last week that they’ve got threats so we have to be fully focused and we’ve got to be at our best to beat them.”