Karl Robinson believes his young side’s 1-0 win over a Tottenham Hotspur XI on Wednesday night will go down as one of stadiummk’s ‘proudest moments’.
The Dons, who finished the game with just two players over the age of 18, overcame a strong Spurs XI thanks to a 34th minute strike from England Under-17 international Giorgio Rasulo.
Although the visitors saw most of the ball in the closing stages it was Karl Robinson’s side who dominated large parts of the first half and a battling display in the last 15 minutes saw them finish the evening with a memorable victory.
And Dons boss Robinson revealed his delight when speaking to MK Dons Player after the game. The 32-year-old said: “It’ll go down as one of the proudest moments in this stadium for different reasons -tonight was a good night for us.
“There are a lot of players here that have got tremendous futures with this Club. As a Club we’ve promised to give these players a pathway, to give them a future and to make them better players and I think we’ve seen tonight, that has been case. I’m happy at the moment, I’m in a very good place and I think the Club’s in a better place than it’s ever been before.
“There are an awful lot of things still to be done but tonight was just a stepping stone for the next five years at this Football Club.”
While the performances of the half-a-dozen scholars that featured in the game will no doubt be the talking point for most supporters this evening, Robinson was also pleased to see his more experienced first-teamers put on a show, most notably Jon Otsemobor who was making his first appearance since injuring his knee in Ireland.
Robinson continued: “Semy was double the age of three of the players tonight, which he didn’t like me saying, but he was still excellent and he’s definitely put the thought in my mind that he can also play centre-back.
“We’ve now got Lee Hodson who can play right-back, George Baldock who also showed tonight he can play right-back, Tom and Shaun who are two very good central defenders, Jon Otsemobor and Ben Reeves who can play left-back as well as Brendan Galloway who did well tonight.
“Granted they may not be as experienced as a Gary MacKenzie, a Mathias Doumbe or an Adam Chicksen but they’ve all got real futures here. We’re still working hard and we’re a long, long way from where we want to be but I and a lot of staff can walk away from this stadium tonight very proud of the last three years of work.”
Robinson and the team’s focus now quickly switches to Saturday and the Dons’ League 1 opener away at Shrewsbury Town and while the men from MK1 maybe going into the game unbeaten in 10, the Dons’ Liverpudlian manager is refusing to get carried away.
He added: “The Chairman mentioned to me after the game that we’re unbeaten in pre-season but we can’t worry about that, although it’s probably one of my best months as a manager in terms of results.
“We’ve still got an awful lot of work to do, though, and it all becomes real on Saturday. I’ll have a think about (the team selection) over the next 48 hours but I’ve got an 11 in mind for the weekend.”
Robinson also noted that he is yet to sit down and talk with winger Zavon Hines, who impressed in his trial game with the Dons.