Mel Gwinnett is looking forward to seeing MK Dons test themselves against EFL opposition on Friday night.
The Dons make the short journey to the PTS Academy Stadium on Friday to take on Sky Bet League Two outfit Northampton Town in their penultimate friendly before the 2019/20 season begins.
It’s expected that this will be the final run-out for the large majority of Paul Tisdale’s first-team players and Gwinnett is interested to see how they fare against, what he expects to be, a hard-working Cobblers side.
“We saw the game at Hemel and Northampton as important games in preparation for the first game against Bury,” the first-team coach said when he met the media after Tuesday’s run-out at Hemel Hempstead Town.
“It will be a different test. We know what we will get with Northampton. We've come up against Keith [Curle] many, many times and he will have them very competitive and structured.
“They'll get the ball into the box and look to cause us problems. They will defend well too. We’re looking forward to it.”
With just over a week to go until the Sky Bet League One opener at Bury, the importance of each training session and friendly is rising as Tisdale and his first-team management ponder their starting XI for the trip to Greater Manchester.
“Pre-season is all about the balance and making sure all the players get minutes so everyone has an equal share but we're getting to the business end of pre-season now and we're starting to think about the starting line-ups,” Gwinnett said.
One player who has caught the eye is young forward Dylan Asonganyi, who scored a terrific solo goal in the 1-0 win over Hemel Hempstead Town - his second goal of pre-season.
Gwinnett has been pleased with the performances of Asonganyi as well as his fellow young professionals.
“Dylan has been great. He listens, he learns, he's keen, he has pace and trickery - he's done very well and he is making us sit up and take notice.
“He's a young boy learning his trade and it’s great for him to have the likes of Joe Mason, Kieran Agard and Jordan Bowery around him - they're helping him.”
Gwinnett continued: “We've got a smaller squad this year so with a couple of injuries, the younger lads will be in and around it. We've got some good young lads in there too.”
