“We’ve all had our say, we have to move on”: Lewington is ready to park last season’s disappointment

Reconnecting with the supporters is high on the agenda for MK Dons next season, according to Dean Lewington.

After a dismal season on the field last term, fan discontent grew ever louder as Dons were relegated to League Two just a year after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to the Championship.

Entering his 23rd pre-season campaign, Lewington said rebuilding the relationship between the club and the supporters was of paramount importance, with the disappointment of last season now parked.

“We can't touch too much on last season now,” he said. “We've all had our say, but we have to move forward. We've got a new manager, new players and it gives us a new feel.

“We have to build a new connection with the fans, which we lost last season, and we've got to try our best to reconnect, and that starts here. We have to make a conscious effort to connect with them again.”

Not just reconnecting with the fans though, Lewington is also getting to know another new manager, this time in the form of Graham Alexander, who took over the club last month.

With the squad returning to pre-season training yesterday (Monday) and getting onto the grass for the first time today (Tuesday) under the new boss, Lewington said: “We've been setting out the ground rules, what he expects from us as players and as a group. It's pretty basic stuff really.

“From what I've picked up so far is that he's a good bloke, he's straight forward in terms of what he expects so I'm looking forward to working with him.”

There are also four new players to get acquainted with too - although the skipper is plenty familiar with one of Dons’ summer signings in the form of returning Alex Gilbey.

He continued: “It's been good to catch up with him, but we've been in contact a lot since he left anyway. Obviously I knew there was a chance for him to come back, so I've been speaking to him a lot and it's been good to see him.

“And with the other lads, we're looking to settle them in, make them feel welcome and introduce them into the way we do things here and make them feel a part of it. It's nice to have new faces in the building.”