MK Dons boss Paul Warne spoke ahead of Saturday’s Carabao Cup game against Norwich

Head coach Paul Warne wants to run the rule over what he considers to be one of MK Dons’ strongest line-ups when they take on Norwich City in the Carabao Cup.

Neither side are realistically expected to lift the cup at Wembley next year, but Warne is still not willing to just use the first round game against the Championship side as a throwaway, and will be naming a side he believes is one of the best he could put out in anticipation of the League One opener against Oxford United a week later.

“I think we’re going to go really strong,” he said ahead of Saturday’s game. “The lads want to play games. I think I’ll go with who is in the better fitness bracket, the ones who are more physically able to play more minutes, and then I can freshen things up if we need to.

“I’m not using it as a training game, but one to see how one of our potentially best 11s play in a game.”

Unusually, the game comes before the league campaign kicks off but it is certainly not the first time it has happened, having been the case in 2012, 2020 and 2022 previously.

Removing a midweek game early on in the season though is a huge plus, according to Warne, who believes the players could benefit in the longer-term by having a less intense start.

He said: “It’s a bit strange but I quite like it. It’s Saturday-Saturday-Saturday. Managers all moan about injuries with the intense schedule but not having Tuesday games is a real boost.

“Having a cup game first is probably nicer in the fact that virtually everybody, and I mean no disrespect to Norwich, I don’t think either club is going to Wembley to get the Cup.

“A cup run is always nice but I think most teams are approaching this round like their final pre-season game.

“But like with every game, we want to win it.”