Valuable training time for Williamson and MK Dons

This week has been an important one for MK Dons and Mike Williamson as they have finally been able to get onto the training ground together.

Thrust into the head coaching job on the brink of a three-game week, Williamson's instructions were by-and-large limited to the lecture theatre for the games against Accrington Stanley, Bradford City and Swindon Town.

But since Saturday, Williamson and his backroom staff of Ian Watson and Chris Bell have been able to plan for almost two weeks of training sessions, split either side of Saturday's FA Cup first round encounter with Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

"We've been able to have a session!" Williamson joked on Wednesday. "It's been good to have a day of training, just to build and learn the relationships.

"It was a really good session, high intensity and hopefully we can continue that through the rest of the week.

"The lads are in good spirits. Coming in after the first game, we felt a weight but in general, the lads have been fantastic. It's a great dynamic we've got."

While Williamson admitted it has been difficult to wait for the training time, it has been tough for the players too.

Captain Alex Gilbey said getting to grips with the way the new boss wants to play has been hard given the lack of physical practice time they have had, and that they could only take on so much from video sessions with the staff.

He said: "It's been a proper hectic start, we'd had a lot of games but now it's settled down we can get some proper coaching in.

"It's tough, being in the theatre room doing work there, but you want to put things into practice. We've just not had the grass time yet.

"Considering we've not had that time though, we've had some really good results. Now with a couple of clear weeks, it will be exciting to see how much we can improve and get better."