Plenty of positives to take after Dons’ EFL Trophy win over Chelsea

It was a good night all-round for MK Dons as they saw off Chelsea U21s 4-1 at Stadium MK on Tuesday night to get their EFL Trophy campaign up and running.

With four goals for three strikers - Matt Dennis, Jonathan Leko and a brace for substitute Max Dean - a solid debut for summer signing Nathan Harness in goal, and first starts for academy products Callum Tripp and Phoenix Scholtz, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance and the result.

There were also opportunities for some of Dons’ fringe players to get game time too, all of which culminated in a thoroughly satisified Chris Lucketti afterwards.

The assistant head coach said: “It just keeps the good feeling and feel-good factor running through the squad and keeps competition high for places, which is what we need.

“The lads who've not had a lot of minutes tonight came in and performed to a really high level. That's what you want to see. We were full of goals, running and energy, and most importantly - three points and a win.

“The game should have been done at half-time, if we were more ruthless. But we got there in the end with a combination of the lads that should have been ruthless in the first-half, and the subs who came on.

“There is a lot of thought that has to go into the picking of a team in this competition because of the regulations, we had to make sure we complied with the rules. There were some outstanding performances all over the pitch. The younger players shone brightly tonight, and that all bodes well for the club.”