Manning does not want MK Dons to be a stepping stone for players in their career

Liam Manning wants his players to aspire to play at a higher level, but he doesn’t see why those ambitions cannot be reached at MK Dons

As rumours continue to circulate around his squad this month, Liam Manning said he doesn’t want players using MK Dons as just a stepping to further their careers.

Matt O’Riley, Andrew Fisher and Scott Twine have all been linked with moves away from Stadium MK this month, but as yet no bids have been received by the club in the first week of the transfer window being open.

Though the lure of playing at a higher level might be enough to sway opinion should interest gather pace, Manning said having ambitious players is exactly what he wants in his dressing room, but he does not want to be used as a quick-fix to get players a move up the pyramid.

“We don't want to be a quick stepping stone for people,” he said. “That's really important to stress. We want people to come here and progress, but we want them to buy into the team and being a success here.

“Ultimately, people should hold an ambition to play at a higher level, it's inevitable and I want them to have that but there is no reason why it cannot be done by being successful here.

“There have been plenty of examples of people jumping too soon and it not work out. We have to have the culture where our team is first - what we're doing here has to be number one.”

Speaking last week, O’Riley said he was paying speculation with regards to his future no mind, opting to ignore it.

And it’s a message echoed by Manning, who told the group not to pay the rumour-mill any attention until something concrete happens.

He said: “People move on at the right time if it's right for the club, but we have to have ambitious hungry young players who are focused on winning matches with us.

“We had a discussion with the whole group to be open and transparent with them all. There is a lot of noise out there, and it's not my style to talk about other people's players. We deal with the noise, and we tell the players to keep their heads down and keep delivering. The noise comes about because they're playing well.

“Then if situations change, which they haven't so far, we'll talk to the players at the appropriate time.”