Andrews Excited By Dons Move

New loan midfielder Keith Andrews is excited by the opportunity to play for a club that means so much to him in MK Dons.

Andrews may have signed for the Dons, on loan from Bolton, in the final hours of transfer deadline day, but was around the club for weeks before the deal could be finalised. He told Dons Player of his experiences:

“It`s probably been the worst kept secret in football. I`ve been heavily involved in the last few weeks in an unofficial capacity, meeting the lads, building relationships with them – I`ve really enjoyed that.

“Now it`s obviously time to try and do a little bit on the pitch. I haven`t been able to train with the lads but I have been working hard on my fitness and trying to get up to match speed.

“I`m just over the moon that it`s finally been able to get sorted. I`m just itching to go and itching to play a part in anyway shape or form – it feels like Christmas morning, it`s fantastic.”

And while there were though to be other clubs chasing his signature, Andrews chose the club for whom he made 87 appearances between 2006 and 2008, scoring 21 goals. As captain he led the Johnstone`s Paint Trophy success and the League 2 title in the 2007/08 campaign, and could indeed be regarded as one of the first ‘legends` in the Dons short history.

He continued:

“I think everybody knows how much this Club means to me and the affinity I have for the Dons and the fans – I`ve always kept in touch with everybody here. I`m the type of person that will never forget anything that someone does for me, so if there was ever a chance to repay the Football Club for what they did for me, I was going to do so.

“(My first spell here) was a real turning point in my career and it gave me the platform to go on and play at the level that I did. They were amazing times for me and the Football Club, with the trophies that we won and the promotion obviously – they are some of the best memories I`ve had in my career.”

And Andrews has joined the Dons at the right time. Sitting 2nd in the table, and with a game against 1st placed Bristol coming up on Saturday, it`s the Dons best chance they`ve had to get to the Championship.

It will be interesting to see if the team is adapted to allow Andrews a starting place or if he will step back in more of a coaching role – even Andrews wouldn`t be able to break up the Dons current unstoppable centre-midfield pairing of Potter and Alli. Nevertheless, he looked forward to helping the Dons realise their aims this season, and added:

“I can sense something special happening at the moment. We`re in a good position in the league and the camaraderie, togetherness and spirit amongst the players elides the obvious talent that they have. The manager, the coaching staff and the backroom team have a real hands-on-deck approach too and I genuinely have a good feeling about this.

“I`m here to every single thing I can, on and off the pitch, to get this club promoted. I`ll be looking to push everybody, myself included, to get to where want to be at the end of the season and hopefully I`ve already played even a small part in that, in the last few weeks.”