When reflecting on the 2018/19 promotion winning season, players and staff alike referred to the dressing room atmosphere as a crucial aspect in the squad – something Russell Martin believes will only benefit the Dons this season.
Martin, who has won promotion from each EFL division, feels carrying over the team spirit and togetherness into Sky Bet League One can help create success.
“It’s the spirit you have in the group, that’s a massive part of the success we had last season,” Martin told iFollow MK Dons. “You need to carry that momentum with the group, you keep the momentum and spirit and hope the new lads that come in will buy into that – I’m sure they will.
“It’s also the stuff off the pitch, how you act down the training ground and recognising when some people need a hand or help from the group. On the pitch, it’s your combinations, you’re working with people every day and you understand each other’s games, it takes time to get that sometimes and the fact we’ve kept the core of the group is an important thing.
“It’s really easy for promoted clubs to bring in loads of new players in but the manager has recognised the importance of people on and off the pitch. There were players who didn’t play much last year but played a really important part behind the scenes in order for us to get promoted and that’ll be the same again this year.
“People might not play every week but they’ll be very important in the dressing room, how they train, their daily habits, the way they help the people in the dressing room, all of that is really important and it’ll be important for us as a group.”
