Humble Boateng admits his Dons revival has been ‘better than anyone expected’

“Me doing well is one thing, but we’re all pushing for the club to do well”
Hiram Boateng’s redemption story at MK Dons has been a great one. Cast out by Russell Martin, he scored on his Dons comeback and netted the equaliser against Cheltenham last week too.Hiram Boateng’s redemption story at MK Dons has been a great one. Cast out by Russell Martin, he scored on his Dons comeback and netted the equaliser against Cheltenham last week too.
Hiram Boateng’s redemption story at MK Dons has been a great one. Cast out by Russell Martin, he scored on his Dons comeback and netted the equaliser against Cheltenham last week too.

Something of a forgotten man at MK Dons, Hiram Boateng’s return to the fold has made him one of the feel-good stories of the season.

Cast aside by Russell Martin, Boateng was out on loan at Cambridge United last term but barely featured in pre-season and was set for another lonely spell out of action for his parent club.

Martin even admitted Boateng had no future at the club under his leadership, but it didn’t put the 25-year-old off his stride.

“Coming back, I was in a positive mindset and raring to go in pre-season,” he told The Citizen. “Regardless of what was going on in the background, you can always control the controllable. I got my head down and carried on working hard and things have turned out better than anyone expected back at MK.

“It's never great to be in that situation, but that's how I ended up going on loan to Cambridge where I could prove my worth and get some regular game-time. It was probably the best decision I could have made, going out and having a positive season with Cambridge.”

Boateng admitted he is not one to go and bang a manager’s door down to get game time - instead doing his talking on the training pitch. Getting his head down and carrying on in spite of his increasingly bleak future at Stadium MK, Martin’s departure opened up the door for his return, and since then he has barely looked back.

Scoring against Bolton, making his first start for the club since December 2019, netting a key equaliser against Cheltenham and then handed his first league start where he hit the post against Portsmouth on Saturday, Boateng’s Dons career has been rekindled in a way not even he imagined.

But the humble Boateng said: “It's a credit to the people who have let me turn it around. It is a lot different to how the season started, but I've been looking for positives all the way through, looking to help the team as the season has gone on.

“For me, I can do that by the way I conduct myself in training and when I get my opportunities. There are different ways people like to do it, but I just want to make sure I do the right things every day, do the right things in training and give myself the best chance.

“Me doing well is one thing, but we're all pushing for the club to do well and the team to get results, putting our stamp on the season - that's more important than what's going on with me.”