The head coach has been pleased with his MK Dons players during their pre-season camp

The pre-season camp in Croatia ticked a lot of boxes for MK Dons boss Paul Warne.

The week-long trip to central Europe afforded the players time to socialise in close proximity, while the coaches were able to keep tabs of them and put them through their paces with up to three sessions per day during the excursion.

On Friday night, they took on Croatian top-flight side NK Istra, hailing from Pula, and though they came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline - Dons’ goal coming courtesy of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing - Warne was a happy man.

“We wanted a competitive game and that’s what it was,” he said. “They’re a couple of weeks ahead of us in terms of their pre-season. I didn’t want to play easy fixtures. They were really good on the counter, had loads of pace and we got the tempo we wanted.

“As a game, I was really pleased. There were some good performances, we came through injury-free, we got the new signings in and the young players impressed as well.

“We’re disappointed not to win, but it’s a training game at the end of the day.”

While captain Alex Gilbey missed the trip as a result of his knee injury picked up in the first pre-season game of the summer, it was a full squad out in Croatia, including Will Collar, Jay Matete and Kane Wilson, who are still working their way back to full-fitness after missing the end of last season.

Now into the third week of pre-season training, Warne said the attitude of his players have been excellent on their return.

“The lads who have completed the first two weeks is a real boost,” he continued. “Unfortunately we’ve had injuries and we’ve carried a few over as well, but the new lads have settled in really well.

“We’ve not done a lot of ball-work, it’s more about getting everyone to understand the levels we expect. We want to be at the top of the league again and that doesn’t just happen. The lads haven’t moaned, and that’s a credit to them.”