Injured players are put to work while in MK Dons’ treatment room

Time in the treatment room can be a footballer’s worst nightmare. Plenty of players down the years have spoken of boredom and tiring repetitiveness of rehab to get their injuries back to full strength. At MK Dons though, the players are being put to work.

Tennai Watson suffered a hamstring injury in Dons’ pre-season game away at King’s Lynn Town back in July, requiring surgery. Being holed up in the treatment room, albeit with Mo Eisa for company, Watson was put to work by boss Liam Manning to help prepare the side for forthcoming games.

Watching hours of clips of the opposition, Watson put together a presentation to give to his team-mates - something he said took him a couple of days to prepare fully, while making him feel a firm part of the first-team despite his injury.

For Manning, ensuring his injured players remain mentally sharp is equally as important as they physical fitness, and he said having players like Watson finding out about the level of preparation that goes into every game is a great way of keeping everyone involved.

“The game has evolved from leaving players in the treatment room and not talking to them,” he said. “They get the rehab and gym-based stuff to do, but you have to support them for game understanding - they can come back with a greater game knowledge.

“But they also understand the processes the staff go through to give the players the information they need, and the time it can take. Giving the players a five minute video of clips can take eight to ten hours.

“But also you want to still feel a part of the team.”

And it is not just the injured players who are being urged to take part in ‘extra-curricular’ preparation for games.

Manning continued: “Everyone, fit or not fit, can contribute. Bradley Johnson presented to the group fairly recently - it's a big life tool being able to talk to a room of people with confidence, portraying the knowledge you have.

“Hopefully, it's something in the future that will be of benefit to them in the next stages of their careers.”