'No surprise' that Healey's return brought Dons back on form

Captain Dean Lewington praised Rhys Healey after the striker claimed two prizes at the MK Dons Player of the Season awards.

The former Cardiff City man picked up the Top Goal-Scorer award after his 12 strikes during the last campaign, but also took the coveted Player's Player of the Year prize.

Alex Gilbey made it back-to-back Player of the Year prizes, becoming only the second Dons player to do it after Luke Chadwick.Lewington, who admitted he voted for Healey for Player's Player, said: "His goals stand out, and he scored good goals at crucial times for us. His work rate and the effect he has on the pitch too – when he wasn't in the team, it coincided with our bad patch and we tailed off. There's no coincidence that when Rhys came back, so did our results. He has that impact on the team and players around him."

"I'm really surprised to win it, to be honest," Healey said. "It's an award I've always wanted to win so I'm really grateful for it. Player's Player means a lot – it means the players around you have their trust in you. For me, it's a big achievement.

"As a striker, you want to score goals and I was lucky to do that last season. The start wasn't the best with getting injured, but I was determined to get back fit and hit the ground running. I found a bit of form, and was gutted it ended early because I wanted to get more goals but I'm happy with what I contributed.

"I always aim for 15 goals plus. Anything over 20 would be a bonus, but I'd be happy to get over 15 and go from there."