Max Dean is in superb form since leaving Championship challengers Leeds United over the summer with the striker ‘more than happy’ with how things are turning out for him at MK Dons.
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
Max Dean’s performance during MK Dons’ dramatic 3-2 win over Swindon Town on Saturday was a lesson in perseverance, the former Leeds United youngster denied by two superb saves before finally – at the third attempt – breaking the Robins’ resistance.
“If you have three chances, you’ve got to put one of them away at least,” a relieved Dean tells MK Dons YouTube channel. “The last one had to go in.”
And it did.
Dean, who joined the Dons back in January when his former Leeds youth coach Mark Jackson was at the helm, is enjoying the best run of his embryonic senior career, scoring four times in his last four games in England’s fourth tier.
In all competitions, Dean is averaging a goal every other game in 2023/24. Six in 12 in total.
‘I’m more than happy’
“I’ve got to keep the goals coming,” the 19-year-old adds, hoping to turn his recent purple patch into something more long-term.
“There’s no point in just getting them in the last three. I’ve got to get them throughout the season.
“Personally, I’m happy, especially now the wins are coming with it. If I’m playing and winning, I’m more than happy.”
Dean began his professional career at Leeds, signing his first senior contract at the Elland Road outfit in 2021. The teenager’s fiery nature and formidable spirit earned comparisons with one-time Leeds hero Alan Smith. And there is some irony in the fact that he is now banging in the goals at a club Smith represented – albeit briefly – between 2012 and 2014.
Dean’s sudden burst of form, meanwhile, has guided MK Dons to seven points from the last 12 available. Now under the stewardship of former Newcastle defender Mike Williamson, they are now five adrift of the play-off spots.
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