2017–18 Milton Keynes Dons F.C. season

The 2017–18 season was Milton Keynes Dons' 14th season in their existence, and their second consecutive season in League One, the third tier of English football.[2] Along with competing in League One, the club also competed in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Milton Keynes Dons

2017–18 season
Chairman	Pete Winkelman
Manager	Paul Tisdale (from 6 June 2018) Keith Millen (caretaker, from 22 April 2018 until 6 June 2018) Dan Micciche (from 23 January 2018 until 22 April 2018) Robbie Neilson (until 20 January 2018)
Stadium	Stadium MK
League One	23rd (relegated to EFL League Two)
FA Cup	Fourth round
EFL Cup	Second round
EFL Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Chuks Aneke (9) All: Chuks Aneke (10)
Highest home attendance	14,925 (vs Coventry City) 27 January 2018, FA Cup R4
Lowest home attendance	1,541 (vs Brighton & Hove Albion U21s) 29 August 2017, EFL Trophy Group G
Average home league attendance	9,202[1]
Biggest win	0–4 (vs Hyde United) 3 November 2017, FA Cup R1
Biggest defeat	1–5 (vs Wigan Athletic) 7 April 2018, League One
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The season covers the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

Competitions

League One

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
20	Rochdale	46	11	18	17	49	57	–8	51
21	Oldham Athletic (R)	46	11	17	18	58	75	–17	50
22	Northampton Town (R)	46	12	11	23	43	77	–34	47
23	Milton Keynes Dons (R)	46	11	12	23	43	69	–26	45
24	Bury (R)	46	8	12	26	41	71	–30	36

Source: Sky Sports

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
5 August 2017 – 15:00	Wigan Athletic	Home	0–1		9,164	[3]
12 August 2017 – 15:00	Blackpool	Away	0–1		3,412	[4]
19 August 2017 – 15:00	Gillingham	Home	1–0	Sow	7,901	[5]
26 August 2017 – 15:00	Blackburn Rovers	Away	1–4	Upson	10,111	[6]
2 September 2017 – 15:00	Oxford United	Home	1–1	Brittain	10,746	[7]
9 September 2017 – 15:00	Plymouth Argyle	Away	1–0	Nesbitt	8,566	[8]
12 September 2017 – 19:45	Peterborough United	Away	0–2		6,465	[9]
16 September 2017 – 15:00	Rochdale	Home	3–2	Ariyibi (2), Seager	7,670	[10]
22 September 2017 – 19:45	AFC Wimbledon	Away	2–0	Francomb (o.g.), Ariyibi	3,973	[11]
26 September 2017 – 19:45	Northampton Town	Home	0–0		11,340	[12]
30 September 2017 – 15:00	Bury	Away	2–0	Sow, Ebanks-Landell	3,165	[13]
7 October 2017 – 15:00	Bradford City	Home	1–4	Ebanks-Landell	9,106	[14]
14 October 2017 – 15:00	Portsmouth	Away	0–2		17,608	[15]
17 October 2017 – 19:45	Walsall	Home	1–1	Aneke	7,258	[16]
21 October 2017 – 15:00	Oldham Athletic	Home	4–4	Gilbey, Upson (2), Nesbitt	9,312	[17]
28 October 2017 – 15:00	Bristol Rovers	Away	0–2		9,312	[18]
11 November 2017 – 15:00	Fleetwood Town	Home	1–0	Aneke	7,827	[19]
18 November 2017 – 15:00	Charlton Athletic	Away	2–2	Agard (2)	10,577	[20]
21 November 2017 – 19:45	Southend United	Home	1–1	Agard	7,521	[21]
25 November 2017 – 15:00	Doncaster Rovers	Away	1–2	Aneke	7,743	[22]
9 December 2017 – 15:00	Shrewsbury Town	Home	1–1	Pawlett	8,355	[23]
16 December 2017 – 15:00	Scunthorpe United	Away	2–2	Agard, Aneke	3,569	[24]
23 December 2017 – 15:00	Rotherham United	Away	1–2	Aneke	8,333	[25]
26 December 2017 – 15:00	Plymouth Argyle	Home	0–1		9,268	[26]
30 December 2017 – 15:00	Peterborough United	Home	1–0	Aneke	10,304	[27]
1 January 2018 – 15:00	Oxford United	Away	1–3	Gilbey	7,628	[28]
13 January 2018 – 15:00	AFC Wimbledon	Home	0–0		9,504	[29]
20 January 2018 – 15:00	Northampton Town	Away	1–2	Gilbey	7,231	[30]
3 February 2018 – 15:00	Walsall	Away	0–1		4,009	[31]
10 February 2018 – 15:00	Portsmouth	Home	1–2	Ugbo	14,762	[32]
13 February 2018 – 19:45	Oldham Athletic	Away	0–1		3,381	[33]
17 February 2018 – 15:00	Charlton Athletic	Home	1–2	Agard	8,961	[34]
21 February 2018 – 19:45	Rochdale	Away	0–0		2,273	[35]
24 February 2018 – 15:00	Fleetwood Town	Away	1–1	Muirhead	2,773	[36]
3 March 2018 – 15:00	Bristol Rovers	Home	0–1		8,240	[37]
13 March 2018 – 19:45	Rotherham United	Home	3–2	Muirhead (2), Pawlett	7,327	[38]
17 March 2018 – 15:00	Bury	Home	2–1	Aneke (2)	9,247	[39]
24 March 2018 – 15:00	Blackpool	Home	0–0		8,094	[40]
29 March 2018 – 15:00	Gillingham	Away	2–1	Aneke, Williams	5,540	[41]
2 April 2018 – 15:00	Blackburn Rovers	Home	1–2	Pawlett	11,215	[42]
7 April 2018 – 15:00	Wigan Athletic	Away	1–5	Brittain	8,404	[43]
14 April 2018 – 15:00	Doncaster Rovers	Home	1–2	Ugbo	8,954	[44]
21 April 2018 – 15:00	Southend United	Away	0–4		7,546	[45]
24 April 2018 – 19:45	Bradford City	Away	0–2		19,192	[46]
28 April 2018 – 15:00	Scunthorpe United	Home	0–2		9,578	[47]
5 May 2018 – 15:00	Shrewsbury Town	Away	1–0	Agard	6,516	[48]

FA Cup

Main article: 2017–18 FA Cup

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
3 November 2017 – 19:55	First round	Hyde United	Away	4–0	Nesbitt, Aneke, Ebanks-Landell, Upson	3,126	[49]
2 December 2017 – 15:00	Second round	Maidstone United	Home	4–1	Nesbitt, Agard (2), Pawlett	4,804	[50]
6 January 2018 – 15:00	Third round	Queens Park Rangers	Away	1–0	Cissé	6,314	[51]
27 January 2018 – 15:00	Fourth round	Coventry City	Home	0–1		14,925	[52]

EFL Cup

Main article: 2017–18 EFL Cup

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
8 August 2017 – 19:45	First round	Forest Green Rovers	Away	1–0	Ariyibi	1,608	[53]
22 August 2017 – 19:45	Second round	Swansea City	Home	1–4	Seager	5,162	[54]

EFL Trophy

Main article: 2017–18 EFL Trophy

Group G final table

Pos	Div	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Milton Keynes Dons (Q)	3	2	1	0	0	6	3	+3	8	Second round
2	L1	Oxford United (Q)	3	1	0	1	1	11	8	+3	4
3	L2	Stevenage (E)	3	1	0	1	1	5	7	–2	4
4	ACA	Brighton & Hove Albion U21 (E)	3	0	1	0	2	3	7	–4	2

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
29 August 2017 – 19:45	Group stage	Brighton & Hove Albion U21	Home	2–0	Ariyibi, Tshibola	1,541	[55]
3 October 2017 – 19:45	Group stage	Stevenage	Home	0–0[lower-alpha 1]		1,793	[56]
7 November 2017 – 19:45	Group stage	Oxford United	Away	4–3	Thomas-Asante, Ariyibi (2), Seager	1,182	[57]
6 December 2017 – 19:45	Second round	Chelsea U23	Home	0–4		1,308	[58]

1. After 90 minutes. Milton Keynes Dons gained an extra point with a 5–4 win on penalties.

Player details

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition.

Players with squad numbers struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League One		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Lee Nicholls	46	0	41	0	4	0	1	0	0	0
2	DF		George Williams	51	1	42	1	4	0	1	0	4	0
3	DF		Dean Lewington	28	0	22	0	1	0	2	0	3	0
4	DF		Joe Walsh	15	0	9	0	3	0	1	0	2	0
5	DF		Scott Wootton	43	0	38	0	3	0	0	0	2	0
6	MF		Ed Upson	45	4	37	3	4	1	2	0	2	0
7	FW		Gboly Ariyibi	27	8	22	3	1	2	1	3	3	0
7	MF		Nigel Reo-Coker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF		Ousseynou Cissé	35	1	32	0	1	1	1	0	1	0
9	FW		Osman Sow	20	2	19	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW		Chuks Aneke	35	10	31	9	3	1	0	0	1	0
11	MF		Peter Pawlett	27	4	23	3	2	1	0	0	2	0
12	DF		Scott Golbourne	25	0	23	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
13	GK		Wieger Sietsma	10	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
14	FW		Kieran Agard	47	8	41	6	4	2	1	0	1	0
15	FW		Ryan Seager	22	3	14	1	2	0	2	1	4	1
15	DF		Elliott Ward	14	0	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	FW		Robbie Muirhead	37	3	30	3	1	0	2	0	4	0
17	DF		Paul Downing	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
17	MF		Marcus Tavernier	8	0	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
18	MF		Conor McGrandles	27	0	19	0	4	0	1	0	3	0
19	DF		Ethan Ebanks-Landell	35	3	29	2	4	1	1	0	1	0
20	MF		Aaron Tshibola	16	1	12	0	0	0	2	0	2	1
20	DF		Josh Tymon	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	MF		Aidan Nesbitt	25	4	19	2	3	2	0	0	3	0
22	MF		Giorgio Rasulo	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
23	DF		Ben Tilney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF		Connor Furlong	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF		Callum Brittain	33	2	29	2	2	0	2	0	0	0
26	MF		Alex Gilbey	25	3	23	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
27	FW		Ike Ugbo	17	2	15	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF		Hugo Logan	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
29	DF		Oran Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	FW		Sam Nombe	12	0	6	0	1	0	2	0	3	0
31	FW		Brandon Thomas-Asante	21	1	15	0	1	0	1	0	4	1
35	MF		David Kasumu	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
37	DF		Dylan Asonganyi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017	MF	Ousseynou Cissé	Tours	Free transfer	[59]
	MF	Conor McGrandles	Norwich City		[60]
	MF	Peter Pawlett	Aberdeen
7 July 2017	GK	Wieger Sietsma	Free agent[lower-alpha 1]	Free transfer	[61]
14 August 2017	FW	Osman Sow	Henan Jianye	Undisclosed	[62]
31 August 2017	MF	Alex Gilbey	Wigan Athletic
	MF	Aidan Nesbitt	Celtic
22 March 2018	MF	Nigel Reo-Coker	Free agent[lower-alpha 2]	Free transfer	[63]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2017	DF	George Baldock	Sheffield United	Undisclosed	[59]
	FW	Dean Bowditch	Northampton Town	Free transfer	[59]
	FW	Nicky Maynard	Released[lower-alpha 3]		[61]
	GK	David Martin	Released[lower-alpha 4]		[62]
	MF	Darren Potter	Rotherham United	Free transfer	[59]
	MF	Ben Reeves	Released[lower-alpha 5]		[62]
	FW	Daniel Powell	Northampton Town	Free transfer	[60]
8 January 2018	DF	Paul Downing	Blackburn Rovers	Undisclosed	[64]

Loans in

Start date	Position	Name	From	End date	Ref.
14 July 2017	DF	Ethan Ebanks-Landell	Wolverhampton Wanderers	End of season	[61]
17 July 2017	FW	Gboly Ariyibi	Nottingham Forest	January 2018[lower-alpha 6]
21 July 2017	FW	Ryan Seager	Southampton	26 January 2018[lower-alpha 7]
27 July 2017	MF	Aaron Tshibola	Aston Villa	9 November 2017[lower-alpha 8]
31 August 2017	DF	Scott Golbourne	Bristol City	January 2018	[62]
4 January 2018	FW	Ike Ugbo	Chelsea	End of season	[64]
17 January 2018	FW	Marcus Tavernier	Middlesbrough
30 January 2018	DF	Josh Tymon	Stoke City
	DF	Elliott Ward	Blackburn Rovers
31 January 2018	DF	Scott Golbourne	Bristol City

Loans out

Start date	Position	Name	To	End date	Ref.
31 August 2017	DF	Paul Downing	Blackburn Rovers	8 January 2018[lower-alpha 9]	[62]

1. Previous club: SC Heerenveen.
2. Previous club: IK Start.
3. Joined Aberdeen on 7 July 2017.
4. Joined Millwall on 1 September 2017.
5. Declined new contract offer. Joined Charlton Athletic on 3 August 2017.
6. Recalled. Originally until end of season.
7. Recalled. Originally until end of season.
8. Recalled. Originally until end of season.
9. Signed permanently for Blackburn Rovers on 8 January 2018. Originally until end of season.

Awards

• EFL Young Player of the Month (September): Callum Brittain[65]

References

1. "League One 2017/2018". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
2. "History". Statto.
3. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
4. "Blackpool 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
5. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
6. "Blackburn Rovers 4-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
7. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-1 Oxford United". BBC Sport. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
8. "Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
9. "Peterborough United 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
10. "Milton Keynes Dons 3-2 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
11. "AFC Wimbledon 0-2 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
12. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-0 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
13. "Bury 0-2 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
14. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-4 Bradford City". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
15. "Portsmouth 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
16. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-1 Walsall". BBC Sport. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
17. "Milton Keynes Dons 4-4 Oldham Athletic". BBC Sport. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
18. "Bristol Rovers 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
19. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 Fleetwood Town". BBC Sport. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
20. "Charlton Athletic 2-2 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
21. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-1 Southend United". BBC Sport. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
22. "Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
23. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-1 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
24. "Scunthorpe United 2-2 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
25. "Rotherham United 2-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
26. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
27. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 Peterborough United". BBC Sport. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
28. "Oxford United 3-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
29. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
30. "Northampton Town 2-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
31. "Walsall 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
32. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-2 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
33. "Oldham Athletic 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
34. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-2 Charlton Athletic". BBC Sport. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
35. "Rochdale 0-0 Milton Keyne sDons". BBC Sport. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
36. "Fleetwood Town 1-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
37. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
38. "Milton Keynes Dons 3-2 Rotherham United". BBC Sport. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
39. "Milton Keynes Dons 2-1 Bury". BBC Sport. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
40. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-0 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
41. "Gillingham 1-2 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
42. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-2 Blackburn Rovers". BBC Sport. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
43. "Wigan Athletic 5-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
44. "Milton Keynes Dons 1-2 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
45. "Southend United 4-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
46. "Bradford City 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
47. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-2 Scunthorpe United". BBC Sport. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
48. "Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
49. "Hyde United 0-4 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
50. "Milton Keynes Dons 4-1 Maidstone United". BBC Sport. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
51. "Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC Sport. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
52. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
53. "Forest Green Rovers 0-1 MK Dons". Milton Keynes Dons. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
54. "MK Dons 1-4 Swansea City". Milton Keynes Dons. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
55. "Report: MK Dons 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion U21s". Milton Keynes Dons. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
56. "Report: MK Dons 0-0 Stevenage". Milton Keynes Dons. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
57. "Report: Oxford United 3-4 Milton Keynes Dons". Milton Keynes Dons. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
58. "Checkatrade Trophy: Michy Batshuayi plays second Chelsea game in 24 hours". BBC Sport. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
59. "Transfers - June 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
60. "Transfers - February, March, April & May 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
61. "Transfers - July 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
62. "Transfers - August 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
63. "Transfers - Feb-May 2018". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
64. "Transfer deals - January 2018". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
65. "Callum Brittain: MK Dons defender named EFL Young Player of the Month for September". BBC Sport. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Official Supporters Association website
• MK Dons news on MKWeb