The head coach is demanding more from his leading goal-scorer

Top-scorer Aaron Collins can still up his performances even though he has scored three out of the four goals for MK Dons this season.

The Welshman came off the bench to score Dons’ only goal in the 3-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night, having been replaced in the starting line-up by Callum Paterson for the game at the Brick Community Stadium.

While he netted in the games against Oxford United and Huddersfield Town, boss Paul Warne felt the former Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year can provide a better outlet for his team-mates during games.

However, given his 26-minute cameo appearance in Greater Manchester provided the only positive on the night for Warne’s side, the head coach said Collins’ response to being left out was perfect.

“I don’t think his overall game has been electric, it’s fair to say,” Warne admitted. “However, he does score goals.

“If you take someone out, you want someone who responds, not someone who slugs and acts like a baby about it. You want someone who goes ‘look, I should be playing’ and his performance was really good tonight. Fair play to him, he went on and did well.”

Following the disappointing showing at Wigan, Warne said no-one in his squad can rest on their laurels and think they are an automatic choice in the side, especially with some big names missing out on the squad entirely on Wednesday night.

Warne continued: “There are loads of players now chomping at the bit. After a pretty comprehensive defeat, it felt like, it enables me to do whatever I like, which is quite empowering.

“We build our players up all the time, show them all their good clips and the stuff we’re not so pleased with. We’ve got a confident group, we’ve signed really good players.”