Maguire felt 'helpless' on the side lines while MK Dons struggled

A lot changed for Laurence Maguire from when he limped out against Notts County on Boxing Day to his return to action for MK Dons last week.

The 28-year-old suffered a hamstring tear much worse than anticipated, side lining him for ten weeks. Watching on from the touchline, he saw his team-mates capitulate, slumping to two wins in 16, costing Scott Lindsey his job at the helm, with the club plummeting dangerously towards the wrong end of League Two.

Speaking about his time out, Maguire admitted he felt helpless watching on as the team struggled in his absence.

“It has been really tough over this period, with the gaffer going and Glads taking over,” he said. “It has been difficult for the club, everyone involved. Watching the games, I felt a bit helpless, not being able to get involved. But now I'm ready to have more of an impact on the team.

“It was really frustrating. When it first happened against Notts County on Boxing Day, it has been a long ten weeks. I didn't think it was as bad as it was. It came back as a grade 3C, when I was actually quite positive going in there for the scan, hoping it would be a three or four week kind of injury. So when I got the results back I was devastated, it was bad news.

“I did my rehab properly, I worked really hard with the physios and fitness coaches and was buzzing to be back on the pitch with the boys.”

His return to the side for last Saturday’s visit of Morecambe to Stadium MK though coincided with their first win in seven games, and only the third since his injury.

He continued: “We've needed it. We've been waiting for it, and we knew how big a game it would be to put in a performance. It was a big result for us, and now we're got more big games coming up and hopefully we can back it up.

“I felt like the boys really stuck together after the tough Accrington loss, Glads has really brought the energy, so going into the game we felt really positive.”