What we learnt from MK Dons' pre-season game against Portsmouth

Pre-season games can be high-intensity training sessions sometimes as teams try out new systems, formations and approaches.

MK Dons made their Stadium MK return on Tuesday night for their penultimate pre-season friendly against Championship Portsmouth, with Mike Williamson’s new-look side starting to take shape ahead of the League Two kick-off against Bradford City on August 10.

Here are five things we learnt from the game.

Playing out is even more ambitious

We saw it at times last season when keeper Filip Marschall was given game time, Williamson’s wish to use the goalkeeper to draw players in to open up space is the starting point for his team. Tom McGill was plenty comfortable getting the ball inside his own six-yard box, leaving late the pass out while under threat. A couple of times it looked a bit risky, the midfielders were caught in possession and it led to an attack, but on the whole, this approach now looks like it has the personnel to match.

Defence looks strong

One of, if not the biggest takeaway from last season was the fragility of the backline. Whether it was a lack of confidence or simply a defence which had come to it’s natural end at the club, Dons shipped far too many goals at the back end of last term. With the introduction of three new centre-backs in the form of Sam Sherring, Luke Offord and Laurence Maguire, all of whom had excellent seasons last time out, the defence looks a more assured unit, one fully on board with what Williamson wants from them, and crucially, one which does not look like the Sword of Damocles hanging over it whenever a mistake is made.

The emergence of Callum Tripp

At 17-years-old, Callum Tripp’s pre-season campaign has stamped him into contention for a more regular role in the first-team this season. Strong, powerful and brimming with confidence, Tripp did not look out of place at centre-back in the second-half alongside the experienced pairing of Jack Tucker and Dean Lewington, and was probably Dons’ biggest threat at wing-back in the opening 45 minutes too - a position he admitted was still quite new to him. Williamson and his staff rate Tripp highly, and his impressive summer could help play him into contention for a more regular role this season.

Plenty of depth in the squad

It probably goes without saying with the addition of ten players this summer that the MK Dons squad has never looked strong, or bigger. There are options in so many positions, and crucially, they are all potential game-changers. Far from a weakened team that Williamson named to start against Pompey, the changes he made introduced the likes of Liam Kelly, Alex Gilbey, Joe Pritchard and Stephen Wearne just after the hour-mark. The head coach may want or indeed need to shift some of the extra weight out before the window closes, but the strength in depth he has at his disposal means he can look over his shoulder at any point and find a great replacement.

The real Matt Dennis

He threatened it a couple of times last season, but Matt Dennis is starting to emerge into a genuine contender to be Dons’ first-choice striker. Thrust into first-team life well before he had time to adapt to life in Milton Keynes when he first signed, Dennis has been in and out of the team ever since, popping up with dramatic and brilliant goals, but it has all been very sporadic. His pre-season campaign has brought goals once more, and his performance against Portsmouth when he came on was bullying, threatening and attention seeking - Pompey defenders could not afford to ignore him.