Warne has never been able to field his 'best' MK Dons team
The lengthy injury list has meant the ideal MK Dons XI has never been realised
At no point this season has Paul Warne been able to pick what he would deem to be his strongest possible MK Dons side.
In something he admits is a rarity for any manager to do any more than ten times during the course of a season, Warne admitted that injuries to key players throughout the season have meant his ‘best’ team has yet to take the field.
The list of injuries has been lengthy this season, from Aaron Collins’ broken arm on the opening day of the season, lengthy spells out for Gethin Jones and Joe Tomlinson, a long-term knee injury for Kane Wilson, further hamstring issues for Collins and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, concussion for Craig MacGillivray and then later Welshman Lemonheigh-Evans, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Will Collar, issues for Alex Gilbey over the New Year period, defenders Jack Sanders and Marvin Ekpiteta missing games since the turn of the year, January signing Jay Matete out for the season after hamstring surgery, to Callum Paterson set to miss much of the remainder of the season with an ankle issue.
While the treatment room has never been completely empty this term, Warne said he has had moments where he feels his side have looked incredibly strong but admitted his best side, at least on paper, has yet to be out on the field as he intended.
When asked how many games he has been able to to field his best, Warne said: “I don’t think in any. I don’t think I’ve ever had my perfect 11.
“That’s not to say the team I’ve put out I don’t back to win, but I’ve had nine or ten out there. If you gave me a pen and I wrote my ideal team out, I don’t think I’d even play the shape we are. However, sometimes you stumble onto things which are successful by fluke.
“About six or seven weeks ago, I remember having a really strong side out, and I remember saying to Rich about our bench being a bit of a cheat code - it felt like the strongest squad I’d ever had. But in a matter of weeks, I lost about three or four of them. I enjoyed it for 25 minutes or so!
“I don’t think any manager really has their best 11 out on the field for more than probably ten games a season.”