International experience has helped Day have a better coaching role

After leading a country on the international stage, Jamie Day feels he has a more rounded understanding of how to help MK Dons.

The assistant head coach first linked up with Scott Lindsey at Swindon Town after returning to England following his three-year spell as manager of Bangladesh. 

Having working in south Asia, working in a different culture and experiencing a different lifestyle, Day believes he is a better coach for his time as an international boss, and thinks it has helped him with the players he is working with at Stadium MK.

“It has made me better in dealing with people, and with different cultures, and how people are,” said Day.

“From a coaching point of view, I've gone up against some world class managers in World Cup qualifiers, and games like that. It tests your tactical side as well, and I'd like to think that whole experience has made me a better coach.

“It was a fantastic experience, I really enjoyed the camps and games we played. I learnt a lot, not just from a football perspective but in life as well. I had to do it, it came up at the right time for me professionally.

“I didn't know anything about it or even where it was! It came out of the blue, but it was an international opportunity, something I wanted to do, and all the players were local. We recruited a few players from abroad and in Europe.

“To develop as a coach and as a person, it was great for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

While Day never played alongside Lindsey, the pair plied their trades in Kent and were known to one another when Lindsey took the Swindon job, recruiting Day to join him.

Following him to Crawley Town and then to Milton Keynes a couple of months ago, Day feels it is his ability to challenge the head coach that makes their relationship work so effectively.

He explained: “The gaffer likes to chat on and off the pitch, I've always said I'd be open and honest with him. I give him a different angle and approach, sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't!

“It's my job to test him, push the boundaries with him, and I think that makes him a better manager as well.

“It's not just about being out on the grass putting sessions on but about getting everything right in the build-up to games.”