Kemp is ready to show what he is capable of in an MK Dons shirt

Not a lot was seen of Dan Kemp in the first six months of his MK Dons career, but he wants to change that next season.

The 23-year-old played just 61 minutes across six matches after signing on transfer deadline day from Leyton Orient back in January. Alert, tricky and lively on the ball, Kemp’s cameos game Dons fans only a brief taster of what he is all about and what made him the diamond in the rough both Liam Manning and Liam Sweeting were so eager to land.

Not put off by making the step up from League Two to League One despite his lack of opportunities last season, Kemp said he has used it as motivation to spur him on to get better, returning to pre-season training in good condition ready to make more of an impression on Manning and the rest of the Dons coaches.

“When I came in, the team found great form and it was difficult for me to get minutes,” he said. “But I kept working hard and I’ve continued that over the summer to make sure I’m in good physical shape.

“Hopefully I’ve done a bit to show the fans here what I’m capable of and I want to continue that and get better and better.”

On Tuesday night, in Dons’ first pre-season game of the campaign, Kemp showed his eye for goal with a well-taken finish just before the break to make it 2-0 following Josh McEachran’s penalty in a game they would go on to win 4-0 at Hayden Road.

Dons have made six signings over the summer, but in the form of Matt Dennis, Nathan Holland, Conor Grant and Darragh Burns have heavily recruited attacking players to their squad, all vying for the same spots Kemp is looking to claim.

The former West Ham man though feels the more attacking options Dons have, the better the club will become.

He added: “We've got some great attacking players in the squad now and I hope when we get out there we'll be a really good attacking force and we can score a lot of goals.”