A reunion with one of his former clubs has Mendez-Laing excited for the season

A return to one of his former clubs has Nathaniel Mendez-Laing excited about MK Dons’ League One season.

The Guatemalan spent less than a season in S6 but he is keen to return to Sheffield Wednesday as part of the campaign.

Following his departure from Cardiff City, Mendez-Laing joined the Owls in November 2021 on a short-term deal, but would eventually sign one to keep him at Hillsborough until the end of the season. Despite making 18 appearances and scoring two goals, he was allowed to leave at the end of the season, where he would join Derby County, later to be led by Paul Warne.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Sheffield Wednesday,” said the 34-year-old when asked which games he was excited about playing next season. “Having spent time there, it’s a great place to play football. Leicester away as well, Huddersfield. There are so many good clubs at this level and I cannot wait to get into the games.”

He will have to wait a while for his preferred fixtures though, with the trip to Huddersfield in February, Leicester in March and Leicester in April.

Mendez-Laing was speaking at Dons’ pre-season training camp in Croatia. As one of the senior figures in the dressing room, despite only just entering his second campaign at MK1, the winger has been keen to help integrate not just the newer faces into the dressing room, but also the younger players from the development squad too.

He said: “When I was at Wolves, I looked up to the older players and they took me under their wing to help me through. I’ve been to other clubs too where the senior players make it easy for you to settle in quicker.

“I enjoy doing that now, and all the younger lads know because I’ve told them that I’m someone they can come to for advice.

“It’s nice to come and bond and be around the squad. It’s important to spend every day together. We eat, hang out, train together, we spend a lot of time with each other. It’s good for the younger lads to be around, and for the new players as well to get to know us all, get a feel for it.

“The team bonding is just as important as being on the grass together, having a feel for each other off the field as well as on it.”