New boss must bide his time to meet his MK Dons squad

New boss Graham Alexander will not be interrupting any of his MK Dons players’ holidays in the next few weeks in order to make first contact with them.

Taking over at Stadium MK in the month immediately after the end of the season, Alexander said getting to know his new squad will be a process which comes in time, with many of the players currently on holiday and away from Milton Keynes.

The former Motherwell boss, who played more than 1,000 games during his career, said while he is eager to get going and get his feet under the table in his new job, he understood the need for the players to put work to the back of their minds for a few weeks prior to the return to pre-season training.

“I'm aware players and staff are on holiday, and I don't want to break into that,” he explained. “It's alright for me, I've been on holiday for the last eight or nine months! I'm raring to go but there are a lot of guys who have put a lot of work into a long season, and it's good for them to have some down time.

“I've travelled to meet a few players, I spoken to a few on the phone, but I don't be calling them to come in from wherever they are, I don't think it's right. I will communicate with everyone before they come back into training though.”

One of those players he has already met is captain Dean Lewington. Not many have more appearances in English football than Lewington - only four - and one of those is Alexander. But the head coach said he did not want to liken his experiences with that the captain, and wanted to hear first-hand Lewington’s take on the club.

He added: “I’m one of not many who can say I’ve been in his position at 38,39 and with that many games played. But I didn’t want to make an assumotion of how he’s thinking, I wanted his thoughts.

“I wanted to look into his eyes and see where he saw himself. He wants to bring success to the team on the pitch.”