Concussion screenings make up a vital part of MK Dons’ pre-season testing

Concussion protocol is a topical subject in the world of sports, and MK Dons were taking the matter seriously in their first day of pre-season training yesterday.

The players spent most of their return day being poked and probed, they were also tested for memory recall and sat one-to-one talking with an assessor to establish a baseline should they ever take a blow to the head.

With more and more sportsmen and women coming forwards with the long-term impact of concussions, Head of Rehabilitation Adam Ross explained the importance of putting the players through their paces not just physically, but mentally as well.

“One of the assessments today was on a laptop, and another is talking one-on-one with an assessor and the medical staff,” he explained.

“Everyone is different, everyone has a different memory - some are good, some are bad! If we don’t know that data, we don’t know whether they’re improving through the protocol.

“You hope you never have to use it, but concussions are a big talking point nowadays, and we have to manage it.

“It's a really important part of the protocol with head injuries. If someone has a concussion or even a suspicion of one, he goes into the protocol, and they're assessed for a number of things, based around symptoms, their history of head injuries and we do cognitive assessments.

“That will be memory assessments, and some orientation - like asking where they are and what day of the week it is.

“Players are evaluated at each step, they'll have a period of rest, then some light intensity exercise and then building to more intense, then non-contact training and finally full-contact before they return to play.

“Along the way, we assess them for symptoms but we have to have a baseline which is what we've been doing.”

Perhaps the days of running the players into the ground in pre-season are gone, but Ross admitted the none of the players enjoy their return for the first few weeks from a physical standpoint. But he said the initial work the players and staff put in behind the scenes pay dividends later in the season.

He added: “It's the first day we get our hands on them, and put them through a battery of tests, and it sets the foundation of where we're going to go in pre-season.

“It gives us the next layer of information and helps us plan training programmes to get the best out of players. We want them to cover the most ground, play the most games and be injury free.

“Pre-season is tough, but it's important stuff.”