Wintle isn't interested in just making up the numbers in League One

Summer signing Ryan Wintle admitted he has not signed for MK Dons to just make up the numbers in League One.

The 29-year-old agreed a move after leaving Cardiff City in the summer, having helped the Bluebirds to promotion back to the Championship, being named their Player of the Season in the process.

But allowed to leave at the end of his contract, Wintle was a highly sought-after man before signing at MK1.

Given those options available to him in the summer, the midfielder, who scored his first goal for his new side on Saturday in the 4-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Norwich City, Wintle said simply getting by in League One is not on the menu at Stadium MK this season, saying the club’s ambitions to make it back-to-back promotions being the key to luring him in.

“We’re not just here to make up the numbers, I wouldn’t have come here if that were the case,” he said. “You can see the ambition of the club, of the manager who has been successful.

“We’ve come here to give it a really good go. We’ve assembled a squad which I believe can get there but we have to make sure we do all the nitty gritty stuff.

“We’ve got boys who have played in the Premier League in the dressing room now, it’s not the case that everyone has just come up from League Two.

“The club recruited last year to have a go and then have a go again, not to bin everyone off. Hopefully I’m here to add to that.”

The curtain raises on the campaign away at Oxford United on Saturday, a club Wintle had been heavily linked with a move to before opting instead for a move to Milton Keynes. Relegated from the Championship last time out, Oxford are under the leadership of ex-Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey, someone Wintle knows well.

“I knew him from my time in Cardiff,” the midfielder added. “He’s a good guy and I’m sure he’ll have them in good shape.

“But it’s not really about what they do, we’ve got a good enough squad here, we should give them a right good game and come away with the win.”