Tough time at MK Dons helped improve Manning as a manager

New Oxford United manager Liam Manning says the struggles towards the end of his tenure at MK Dons have made him a better coach.

The 37-year-old, along with his assistant Chris Hogg, took over at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday but had a watching brief for their 3-2 defeat to Derby County.

Manning, who led Dons to third place in League One last season, missing out on automatic promotion by a point before losing to Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off semi-finals, struggled in the first-half of this season, losing his job at Stadium MK in December with the side in the relegation zone.

But it was those final four months which Manning believes have made him improve more as a coach.

Speaking in his first press conference as Oxford boss, Manning said: “MK was a really good experience and the funny thing is, I leave MK as such a better coach having had that challenging four-month period versus if I’d left in the summer when your stock’s higher.

“I’m a much better coach having gone through that, and having some time out to reflect, come back in and evolve.

“You can look at in two ways – you can be emotional and downbeat, or you can go and take from that experience what’s going to make me a better coach, and allow me to progress and become a better version of myself.”