The midfielder picked up the two top prizes at the MK Dons End of Season Awards

Liam Kelly did the double at the MK Dons End of Season Awards on Saturday night, winning both the Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year prizes.

Voted for by fans and his team-mates, Kelly did the double just hours after the club secured their return to League One, beating Tranmere Rovers 3-0 at Stadium MK to go top of League Two with one game remaining.

Speaking about his Players’ Player Award, Kelly joked his team-mates voted for him because he was ‘so bad’ last season during his first campaign following his move from Crawley Town.

The midfielder though has been instrumental in Dons’ push for the title this term, orchestrating the play while chipping in with nine assists this season, the latest of them putting the third goal of the day on a plate for top-scorer Callum Paterson, who also came away from the night with two award.

By his own admission, Kelly struggled under the weight of expectation last season as the club slumped to their lowest ever finish of 19th in League Two. However, after a gruelling pre-season training programme alongside captain Alex Gilbey, who was recovering from a double hernia surgery, Kelly returned a new man for the season.

“I’m biased, but I cannot speak highly enough about him,” said skipper Gilbey. “I’m not surprised in the way he’s bounced back. I think, 12 months ago, we were running around Willen Lake and I was telling him ‘just keep showing people how good you are.’

“Every other day, we were going out for runs around different routes in Milton Keynes to keep fit to impress the manager. I knew I had to come back after my own surgery and impress the manager, and Liam was right there with me.

“To see how he bounced back from last season, to see how good a footballer he is, to be in the Team of the Year, to do the things he’s done, to perform day in day out, he’s a credit to himself and his family.”

Paterson is set to finish the season as the club’s top scorer and won the award on Saturday night for his 15 goals, while he also walked away with the Best Newcomer Award.

Aaron Nemane’s brilliant solo strike against Swindon Town on Boxing Day was voted Goal of the Season, while Jack Burke was named Young Player of the Year and Joe Tomlinson was named Community Ambassador.

Yvonne Howard and Louise Walsh shared the Supporter of the Year Award, with Steve Mundie winning Disability Player of the Year.