'Outside noise' must be locked out of the MK Dons dressing room
The MK Dons players will not be paying attention to what is said about them
The moniker of League Two favourites is something the MK Dons players are trying to keep out of the dressing room.
Labelled the pre-season favourites for the title, Paul Warne’s side opened their account with a goal-less draw with newly promoted Oldham Athletic on Saturday, a result which both head coach and his charges were left disappointed with.
With 45 games remaining though, defender Jack Sanders said nothing is done and dusted at this very early stage but that the weight of expectation is something which can negatively impact the mood in the dressing room.
“There’s a lot expected of us, but we’re not going to let the outside noise get into the dressing room,” he said. “We’re just looking to the next game.
“As a player, I don’t let the outside noise or what they think of my game impact me because at the end of the day, only a few people’s opinions matter - my team-mates and the manager. What others say doesn’t matter to me, and it’s the same as everyone else in the team. We can’t let that noise affect us.
“We know what is expected of us with the players we’ve brought in and the manager we’ve got, but we all have to do our jobs Monday to Friday and then deliver on a Saturday.”
He continued: “We’ve got a lot of new players in and every player has integrated really well. There are no egos, everyone is committed to the same task. (Callum) Paterson joined us only a couple of days ago but he sprinted back to stop them counter-attacking and scoring.
“Everyone is in it for the same thing, the same goal and just because we’ve not had a good result (on Saturday), it won’t play a part in our season on the whole.”