Loan players remain part of Manning’s plan beyond January

As far as Liam Manning is concerned, MK Dons’ loan players will remain a part of the squad beyond January.

With the reopening of the transfer window next month, parent clubs will have the opportunity to recall their players should they wish, meaning the likes of Ethan Robson (Blackpool), Troy Parrott (Tottenham), Max Watters (Cardiff), Josh Martin (Norwich) and Peter Kioso (Luton) could all leave the club.

With a little over a week until that could happen though, Dons’ head coach says nothing has yet been confirmed to him with regards to his loanees.

“We're in constant dialogue but in terms of decisions, nothing has been finalised yet,” he said. “They're with us as it stands, and that's how we're working until we're told different.

“January still seems a long way away with two more games before then.”

It won’t be just loan players who Manning will be eager to keep hold of this January, with rumours linking several of his players with moves away from Stadium MK before the window closes.

On the reverse of the coin though, the window offers Manning his first real opportunity to bring in the type of player he wants, given he was only in the post a week during the summer window before it closed.

When asked if the window was a help or a hindrance, Manning said: “It's a bit of both. When we came in, the window shut a week afterwards, so we didn't really get a lot of time to look at what we needed. But what we've had, we've done really well.

“And there is noise around some of our players, which I see as a compliment to them and the club. Even at the highest level you'll get that.

“At the moment, we're all MK Dons.”