Football Season Review

After falling to Play-off defeats for the three times in the last four years, the Dons were expected to make the step up this season and win direct promotion. Despite having a very strong squad that is right up there with the best in League One, things never really worked out for Karl Robinson's men this term. A bizarre run of four consecutive games in which they had a player sent off early in the season left Robinson short of options in various areas of the team in the short term, while frequent injuries to regular players, with the most serious ones being suffered by Stephen Gleeson and Luke Chadwick, who both missed more than two months of the campaign, also hindered the Dons' progress. Robinson, whose side's main weakness is their shortage in numbers, did well to keep the side close to the top six as the season approached it's final third, but the nine game winless run the Dons had in February and early March left his men with too much to do in the late stages of the season. Apart from their lack of luck when it came to injuries and their poor disciplinary record, another thing that cost the Dons was their tendency to struggle against sides who come to the MK Stadium to defend in numbers and try to hit them on the break - and it was therefore fitting that their Play-off hopes ended with a 1-0 home win against lowly Scunthorpe, in the type of game they struggled to win in all season. Robinson confirmed that he intends to remain at the club next season - the Dons have the foundations set to push for promotion, but what they will want to bring in over the summer are a few extra bodies to give Robinson additional options, as well as a quality striker who could get goals against sides who "park the bus" against the Dons.

Player of the Season: Shaun Williams