Opportunity missed for Ilunga in Dons’ Trophy defeat

Brooklyn Ilunga felt Tuesday night’s defeat to Cheltenham Town in the Papa John’s Trophy was an opportunity missed as he looks to play a bigger role for MK Dons this season.

The 18-year-old was making his 10th appearance for the club since his debut back in May 2021, and was enjoying a strong outing at Stadium MK in the first-half especially, taking on Dylan Barkers and Dan Adshead and, for the most part, coming out on top.

But the second period saw Dons’ performance drop off, and Ilunga’s impact on the game waned as they came out on the losing side.

While head coach Liam Manning said no-one covered themselves in glory after the game, Ilunga felt he needed to make more of an impression across the whole game, not just in patches.

“I have to provide a threat for the whole 90 minutes, being out there and improving,” he said. “I thought I could have been better. I was lively in the first half, but we dipped in the second half and we know we could do better. It was good to be out there and playing again.

“These cup games are a perfect opportunity to show what I can do, but we did not get the result we wanted. It's a learning experience, so we'll analyse it, progress and move forward.”

Ilunga, who turned professional last October, has been a regular fixture around the first team fold for a little while now. A left-sided player on the whole, the teenager said he has been learning to play several roles in Manning’s formation, and feels he is used to the way the head coach wants him to work now.

He said: “I'm still adapting to new positions, left-back, left-wing and wing-back as well. It's about making myself as selectable as possible so I can get in the team.

“That (confidence) comes from being around the boys all the time, and the coaching playing me because they trust me. Knowing that helped a lot, especially last season, and having these appearances is another great opportunity for me.

“I've got used to it because I was in and around it last season, so I'm happy to be in every day, working hard and I hope I can push the gaffer to show him I need to play.

“We've been playing really well in the last few games, and looking at that, watching and analysing even in training, it gets you excited and you look forward to being able to play in that.”