Russell Martin praised a number of his homegrown stars after Tuesday’s EFL Trophy success over Northampton Town.
The Dons’ Academy products stole the show at Stadium MK, as Martin’s men made the perfect start to their EFL Trophy campaign, coming from a goal down to beat Northampton 3-1.
Each goal was either scored or created by a player who had progressed through the Club’s Academy set-up, while goalkeeper Laurie Walker played his part between the sticks. Martin was happy to hand out praise to those involved post-match.
“I'm really pleased for the lads,” Martin said in his post-match press conference. “It was a new challenge for us but other than a few early chances, we limited them really well and we deserved to win it.
“There were so many positives. John Freeman came off the bench and set two goals up. He shows so much composure in the final third - we joke he's the oldest 18-year-old in terms of his maturity and confidence.
“Matty Sorinola was excellent again. He took his goal fantastically but what stood out for me was, for the first goal, he won a tackle on the edge of his box, ran 80 yards, crossed after the pass is far too hard for him, he ends up in the stand and Regan scores.
“Sam took his goal brilliantly as well, and for Laurie to play like he did in his first game was great. The lads all applauded him at the end in the dressing room and rightly so. You could see he was enjoying it by the end, dinking passes about, and he made a couple of brilliant saves too.”
Martin added: “A couple of guys have given me issues for Saturday now, forcing their way into our thinking.”
