Former Player's Player Award winner still holds MK Dons close to his heart

Josh Murphy celebrates scoring against Fulham with MK Dons team-mate Dean Bowditch

Former Player’s Player of the Year Josh Murphy still keeps a close eye on MK Dons’ results, and hopes they can secure promotion back to League One this season.

The Oxford United winger was a break-out star for Dons during his year-long loan at Stadium MK in 2015/16. A stand-out performer in the Championship side which suffered relegation, Murphy, who was on loan from Norwich City, was joint-top-scorer with Nicky Maynard, scoring seven goals in his 46 outings for the club.

Racking up appearances in the Premier League and Championship for the Canaries, Murphy re-joined former Dons boss Karl Robinson at the Kassam Stadium in 2022, going on to play under Liam Manning too prior to his move to Bristol City earlier this season.

His time at Stadium MK though Murphy still holds fondly, picking up a coveted Player’s Player of the Year at the MK Dons Awards in 2016, and he said he still checks for Dons’ results.

Murphy scored seven goals for MK Dons during his loan spell, including away at Nottingham Forest. Pic: ProSportImages

“Norwich and MK Dons, they are the two clubs that I check every Saturday after my match to see how they get on because I had great memories there,” he told SkyBet. “I loved my time at MK Dons. It was my first proper loan where I had a full season of games.

“It was a great dressing room and I got on really well with the manager, Karl Robinson. He was someone who had a lot of faith in me, just let me go out there and make a lot of mistakes, but then at the same time I feel like I repaid him.

“I enjoyed it there and to get Player’s Player of the Year was brilliant at the time because the boys had that trust in me and looked to me to get important goals and assists, so was a great moment for me to get that award.”

After missing out on the automatic promotion spots, Dons have booked their spot in the play-offs and will discover their opponents on Saturday, with any of six possible teams in contention to finish seventh.

Murphy, whose Oxford side are also in contention for a final-day play-off spot, said he backs his former club to make it through the semi-finals to secure promotion at Wembley.

He said: “They’ve done well this season and might be slightly disappointed that they couldn’t get into the automatic places, but with the squad that they have, they are equipped to come straight back up.

“I wish them all the best and I’ll be rooting for them, hopefully they can win the play-offs.”