Karl Robinson has confirmed that midfielder Ben Reeves will miss the remainder of the season with ankle ligament damage.
Reeves didn’t feature in Saturday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers because of the injury which has put an end to what has been an otherwise impressive first season in Milton Keynes for the 22-year-old, who signed in the summer from Southampton.
Dons manager Karl Robinson told mkdons.com: “I’m gutted to lose Reevesy because he’s been one of our players of the season. He is a great guy and a great player, as we’ve all seen this season through his goals, assists and performances.
“Knowing Reevesy like I do, I’m confident he’ll come back even stronger from this and hopefully he can pick up where he left off at the start of next season. I know he’ll work around the clock with our medical team to get right.”
Reeves, the Dons’ current leading goalscorer with 11, becomes the third player to be ruled out for the rest of the 2013/14 campaign following on from Darren Potter (Achilles) and Lee Hodson (hip).
“Our injury problems this season have been well documented and this is another in a long line of influential players we’ve lost,” Robinson added.
“We were without our goalkeeper (David Martin) and Antony Kay for three months. We also lost Daniel Powell for a period of time, Dean Bowditch for most of the season and, not forgetting, Samir Carruthers who had to go back to Aston Villa. Now, we're without Darren Potter, Lee Hodson and Ben Reeves.
“The main thing for me, though, is we’ve kept going as a squad and as a Football Club and really made the best out of a bad situation. There are still six important games left to play and it important we stick together and get as many points as possible between now and May.”
Stephen Gleeson (calf) and Izale McLeod (calf) also missed Saturday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers but are expected to return before the season’s end.
Loanee Sanmi Odelusi, who was sent off in the defeat to the league leaders last weekend, is suspended for one match and will miss the trip to Coventry City on Saturday.
