While all may have seemed quiet at stadiummk this off season, Karl Robinson and his staff have been busy working behind-the-scenes in preparation for 2013/14.
One of the foremost things on Robinson’s mind is player recruitment ,with the Dons’ longest serving manager keen to improve on and add to his already talented crop of players.
The Dons’ only two signings so far this summer have both been in-house, with goalkeeper David Martin committing his future to the Club for a further two years and youngster Dele Alli putting pen-to-paper on his first professional contract.
With financial fair play rules to abide by, bringing in players is proving much more difficult in today’s game but Robinson remains hopeful he’ll be able to add to the squad ahead of the new season, even if it means dipping into the loan market.
The 33-year-old said: "It is becoming increasingly difficult to get players in, particularly with our budget the way it is. It was tough last year and it is even tougher this year. Bringing in players might depend on players having to leave.
"Ideally, though, I'd keep all the players we have at the moment and we'd rely on the loan market to bring in someone who can score goals regularly and some wingers. I feel our defensive four is solid, our midfield of Darren Potter and Stephen Gleeson is essential to us, we just need to score more goals.
"Wingers are a bit of an enigma and they are hard to find at our level. We're strong in that area already but Daniel Powell and Dean Bowditch need someone to challenge them for their positions because they were big losses for us for large parts of the season when they were out injured."
Three players Robinson is hoping will be part of things at stadiummk next season are out of contract trio Ian McLoughlin, Dean Lewington and Adam Chicksen, all of whom have yet to sign their new deals.
The Dons boss, however, is confident with the way talks are progressing with the three players.
“Those three have had deals on the table for several months now and we're waiting to hear back. Sometimes these things can take a few hours, sometimes a lot longer. I'm confident that we'll get all three signed for next season."
Robinson also commented on recent speculation linking him with several vacant managerial vacancies and the Liverpudlian was keen to re-iterate his desire to remain with the Football Club.
“Every job I’m linked to, it feels like I have to come out and repeat myself.
“Comments I made about speaking to my agent were taken out of context, which I was upset about, and it lead to a lot of unfair comments being made about me, which I thought were really disrespectful. I meet with my agent every year to talk about the last 12 months, what I did right, what I did wrong. He puts me back on the straight and narrow.
“My family are settled in Milton Keynes, we have no plans on leaving."
