‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

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‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

With our Sky Bet League One campaign set to continue at MK Dons on Saturday, Manager Russell Martin assessed the team’s current progress.

2026-08-28T08:40+01:00

by Sam Jones

Published

28 Aug, 2026

‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

With our Sky Bet League One campaign set to continue at MK Dons on Saturday, Manager Russell Martin assessed the team’s current progress.

Sam Jones

2026-08-28T08:40+01:00

‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

With our Sky Bet League One campaign set to continue at MK Dons on Saturday, Manager Russell Martin assessed the team’s current progress.

Sam Jones

2026-08-28T08:40+01:00

‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

With our Sky Bet League One campaign set to continue at MK Dons on Saturday, Manager Russell Martin assessed the team’s current progress.

Sam Jones

2026-08-28T08:40+01:00

‘Be The Team We Want To Be’ – Martin Ahead Of League Return

With our Sky Bet League One campaign set to continue at MK Dons on Saturday, Manager Russell Martin assessed the team’s current progress.

Sam Jones

2026-08-28T08:40+01:00

Following a promising performance at Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup in midweek, we head to Stadium MK for one of the weekend’s early kick-offs, bidding to put a first three points on the board.

In conversation with reporters at LCFC Training Ground, Martin outlined how he knows there is plenty more work to be done but was encouraged by what he saw on Tuesday.

“We’ve lost one game,” he told the media in his pre-match press conference. “We won a cup game and we drew a league game away from home which was really difficult. We lost a game where we were down to 10 men for 70 minutes and still dominated large aspects of that.

“We are really disappointed with a 25-minute spell against Burton that really hurt us. Aside from that, the energy has been there, the willingness to run has been there.

“The tangible success is what I see the players do on the training pitch and what they did on Tuesday night. The biggest difference in our performance was the bravery to take the ball and to move for each other and run. They were so together. I love that.

“We played a young team with an average age of 22 against a Premier League team full of Championship winners and people who have been signed for £20M+. We put in a brilliant account of ourselves and actually dominated the game in many aspects – shots, final third entries. We were great.

“It’s not perfect, because there’s so much change and so many people so new here, a few weeks in. There’s a lot for us to be excited about and there’s a lot for us to work on. I knew that would be the case after eight weeks.

“It’s not going to be easy and I’ve said that to the players and staff. What we’re embarking on will be worth it.”

With the squad now taking shape following a summer of arrivals and departures, Martin is optimistic about what the future holds, though he knows results on the pitch is the only way to maintain the positivity.

“We have clarity after eight weeks of work about where we are as a squad and how we can try and help the group,” Martin explained. “I’m really happy with the team, they are fantastic to work with and they will keep growing and getting better, I’m sure of that.

“In terms of the day-to-day feeling, I think it feels different. The culture is shifting and changing. I feel energised by the job.

“With the young talent here, the standard of the training facilities, the size of the Club, the fan base, the people who work here, it excites me even more. It’s the same for the players. There’s a huge ceiling for the group of players that we have.

“The only thing that changes the energy around us will be results. Inside, the energy is really good. Everyone is really calm and everyone expects us to reach a certain level of performance that will make us really successful.

“The outside noise is something that we have to ignore. People around the Club understand what’s going on and we’re trying to rebuild a team and a club they are proud of and they feel connected to. That’s not quick and it’s not easy, no matter what style of football you want to play.

“If you want to be successful, you have to close ranks. I love being at this Club and working here and we have to make it successful.”

One man who can now help with that aim is new recruit Ilari Kangesniemi, a 19-year-old Finland youth international who joined us from FC Inter Turku. Standing at 6ft 6ins, an imposing centre-back has been added to the group, much to Martin’s delight.

“I think he’s a really brilliant signing for us,” our Manager commented. “It’s balancing short-term and long-term at the Club, because there is a lot of change going on. He’s definitely someone who can help us short-term. Every player we sign has to.

“And in the long-term he will be a fantastic and really valuable asset for the Club on the pitch. I’m delighted to have him. He had options to play at clubs in the Champions League or Europa League this season, a higher level in England.

“He’s chosen us because of the amount of work put in, the conversations we’ve had, hopefully what we’ve presented to him as a project.

“We’re really excited to have him. He’s only had two training sessions, but already you can see the talent he possesses and now he has to get into the team and really impact it.

“We wouldn’t have signed him if we didn’t think he could help us here. He ticks a lot of boxes. I loved the performances of Bade [Aluko] and Luke [Thomas] on Tuesday so you might see them there sometimes.

“I think we’ve got a really good blend of guys like Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns, Alex McCarthy who can then help the younger players that we’ve signed.

“We’ve already had [10] signings. It’s a big summer for the Football Club in terms of the amount of change we’ve had. Navigating that change, everyone is doing really well. There’s a lot of it.”

Saturday’s opponents, the Dons, were automatically promoted from Sky Bet League Two at the end of last season and have started the new campaign promisingly, recording back-to-back draws.

Speaking about the side he managed between 2019 and 2021, Martin commented: “First and foremost, they are really good at what they do. Paul [Warne] and Richie [Barker] are really good at what they do and the way they do it. I have so much respect and admiration for them and the amount of success they’ve had previously at clubs shows that.

“They are so hard to play against, run relentlessly, are very aggressive with and without the ball. They pose a real threat. As ever, whichever team we are playing against and whichever coach, we have to assess where we feel we can hurt them.

“It’ll be about what we can do and how we go there. We have to be aware of what they are good at. They have momentum and energy after getting promoted last season.

“It’s very different to us but there’s no right or wrong way and they are good at it. We have to be very good at being the team we want to be.”

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