Russell Martin took plenty of positives from MK Dons’ first run-out of the summer.
Martin’s Dons returned to action on Tuesday evening, beating King’s Lynn Town 3-1 in a pre-season friendly which saw the majority of his first-team squad get an hour under the belts.
“I really enjoyed some of it,” Martin said in his post-match press conference. “There were loads of positives and lots to work on but overall, I'm pleased with where the guys are physically and their intent, which was spot on.
“It served its purpose, and we played against a good team who made it a good test for the guys.
“Some of them are still rusty, some of them are new and getting used to it and some of them are young. It's a really mixed bag at the moment, which it always is at this stage in pre-season, but on the whole it's positive.”
All six of MK Dons’ summer signings were in action, with two of them – Scott Twine and Max Watters - getting on the scoresheet.
“It was really encouraging,” Martin said. “You can see, already, why we worked so hard to get Scott Twine and Josh Martin in. We've got a lot of work to do with Josh because we're asking him to do a different role to what he's used to but he's got so much ability.
“Ethan (Robson) did great, Max (Watters) made a good start by scoring and I was really impressed with Aden (Baldwin) too.”
Missing out on Tuesday Harry Darling, Warren O’Hora and Lewis Johnson – the latter two because of long-term injuries which they have been dealing with since last season while Darling was held back as a precaution.
“Harry took a knock on Monday, which is really frustrating for him and for us. Hopefully he'll be okay for Saturday but we'll look at it over the next few days and see where we're at.
“Warren will be ready for Saturday, though, which is great. He's worked so hard and has been in every day over the summer. We talk about cultural architects and turning young guys into leaders and he has been brilliant in that regard and is back quicker than we thought.”
