Workhorse O’Hora is Dons’ next natural leader

The heir to Dean Lewington’s captain’s armband at MK Dons could well be Warren O’Hora.

The 23-year-old Irishman was named skipper for the night in the 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Sutton United last Tuesday, a moment he said was a proud one in his career to date.

Still young in footballing years, O’Hora’s leadership qualities have impressed his boss Liam Manning in the year he has been in charge at Stadium MK, who said: “When he talks, people listen and that's the respect he has earned in the group. It's quite uncommon for someone of his age to have the leadership qualities he does.

“For his age, he is a terrific leader and he brings a real presence about him. He has progressed so much in the last year, defensively and on the ball, cleaning up the basics. He has been huge for us in the last season and I'm sure he'll continue to be huge for us in the future too.

“He has been outstanding for us, and that was shown by naming him captain the other night against Sutton.”

A regular in the side since joining initially on loan from Brighton in the summer of 2020, O’Hora missed just two games last season under Manning’s watch.

With Dons putting a lot of emphasis on self-improvement both on and off the pitch, Manning said the Irishman is one of the hardest working players behind the scenes.

“He's been tremendous, I love working with him,” Manning continued. “He's a terrific character, a terrific guy, a terrific professional. He does a lot of work on his game, he watches a lot of his clips back, analyses his game and he buys into what we do to improve his game and that speaks volumes about his desire to improve.

“I forget how young he is sometimes, but he learned a lot from the experiences we had last season. And I'm not just talking about heading or passing, but reflecting on those experiences and how you deal with them.

“They're the bits he has really bought into and taken on board.”