New signings have brought a new vibe to MK Dons

Bringing in four new players during the final week of the transfer window has breathed new life into the MK Dons squad this week.

Jack Payne, Joe Tomlinson, Ellis Harrison and Anthony Stewart all came into to bolster Graham Alexander’s ranks ahead of last Friday’s deadline, with Payne and Tomlinson signed in time to come on as substitutes against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

Without a midweek game, the head coach has been putting his new signings through their paces this week at Woughton, but it is not just the quartet who have impressed him upon their arrival.

“I believe there has been a different vibe this week with the different competition which is good, and what we need,” he said. “Every elite team thrives on competition and we want to become an elite team. We want to be amongst the best at our level.

“We have to have standards and competition, and I believe the right players thrive on that and rise to the challenge. We've seen that with the new players coming in.”

With Dons’ injury ailments heading into this Saturday’s game with league leaders Notts County, all of the new signings could feature at Stadium MK.

County, led by former Dons assistant manager Luke Williams, took over top spot with their win over Accrington last Saturday after securing promotion from the National League last season.

With it being first against second, albeit still early in the campaign, the Dons head coach said the game between the early pace-setters should be an entertaining one.

He said: “We want to be involved at the right end of the table. The more games we're involved in like this means we're doing well.

“It's early in the season, so we're not looking at league positions right now, but similarly to the Wrexham game - we're looking at what Notts County have done over the last year.

“They're a good team with a really good manager. It will be a tough test for us, but you've seen over the last few weeks, we haven't had any easy games, but we've won games. We have to be at our best.”