Walker's work-ethic rewarded with Dons debut

Russell Martin was bursting with pride for goalkeeper Laurie Walker, who at 30-years-old, made his MK Dons debut on Tuesday night.

The keeper is currently back-up for Lee Nicholls, and stepped into the breach for the EFL Trophy game against Northampton, which saw Dons run out comfortable 3-1 winners.

Walker was released by the club as a teenager before being handed a pro-deal last summer, and his manager could not be happier for his goalkeeper.

He said: "I'm so pleased for him. The lads all applauded him at the end in the dressing room and rightly so.

"You're entitled to be nervous when you're 30, making your debut for your home-town club. Laurie knows his role in the squad, what he's got and what he hasn't. He's extremely grateful, and his gratitude is one of the best things about him. He's so happy to be playing for his home-town club.

"He's taken everything in tonight, he's been great in training and he really deserves that. I'm really pleased for him, and it helps us to have someone like him if we need him."

Though Walker's game started nervously, he grew in confidence and stature. Picking up the ball in the centre circle at times, Walker almost turned provider for Sam Nombe with a deft 50 yard pass over the Northampton defence while also showing a more orthadox goalkeeping ability by making a couple of great saves too.

Martin continued: "It was unusual for him, given where he ended up with the ball. You see Lee Nicholls do it a lot. We're putting so much on the keepers with the ball, they have to have a lot of courage. And for Laurie to do that in his first game is great. You could see he was enjoying it by the end, dinking passes about, and he made a couple of brilliant saves too."