The pair played together at Crawley Town last season prior to both moving to MK1

Laurence Maguire has backed Ben Gladwin to have a thriving managerial career after taking charge of MK Dons.

The 32-year-old played alongside Maguire last season at Crawley Town, and has since coached the defender under Scott Lindsey’s tenure prior to replacing him as head coach last week.

As the side bids to turn around their fortunes in the final couple of months of the season, Maguire says the players are fully behind Gladwin and predicts he will have a big future as a manager.

“I've worked with him for a few years now, and I know how good a manager he will be in the future,” said the defender. “He's got a top coaching career ahead of him.

“He's obsessed with football, and obsessed with coaching, and this is a great opportunity for him to go on and be a really top, top manager. I'm looking forward to working more with him in the future.

“The boys have taken to him straight away. He's got great ideas and wants to play the way we all do here at MK Dons, the MK Way. He will be a top coach.”

Taking on Port Vale on Saturday, Maguire believes Dons will have their work cut out against Darren Moore’s side, but says they have to build on last week’s 2-1 win over Morecambe to try and finish the season as best as possible.

He said: “It will be a good game, and a good atmosphere. They're in a good position, and we go into the game off a good win, and positive after a good week of training.

“We've got to back it up now, we can't just win one game and then lose at Port Vale. We've got to give it a really good go towards the end of the season.”