Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the performances of young full-backs Myles Kenlock and Josh Emmanuel were among the positives to be taken from the Blues’ 3-2 home victory over the MK Dons.

Reflecting on the game overall, he said: “Exciting? It was frustrating for me. We started really well, we could have had a second and then gave an absolutely bonkers goal away, we were all out of shape, lost it, they broke and we gave away the penalty.

“The second half wasn’t really happening. We got a second and gave another goal away, which we were really disappointed with.

“And then we won it and Myles Kenlock, who I thought was excellent, one real plus point out of the game, out of the season looking at him, crossed brilliantly and Reg Varney got on the end of it.

“So we get the winner, we all come off and it looks like an exciting game, and I guess it was because there were chances at either end. But 3-2, some good and some bad in that.”

Regarding Kenlock and Emmanuel’s performances, he added: “It’s convinced me that I’ve got two young full-backs that can actually play in the team, if I was thinking of looking elsewhere.

“They’re both young still, both only 18 or 19 the pair of them, and they’ve done really well. I’m delighted with them.

“[They’ve probably been a bit unfortunate not to play more of a part this season], but the senior lads have been great for three/four seasons since I’ve been here.

“It’s been Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Mings or Knudsen and they’ve served me and this club so well, so it has been hard for them to get in.

“If I want to be brutally honest, I think Myles has got done for the second goal, he’s got nudged by Revell, but then he’s made up for that. His whole performance has been outstanding.

“But those are the things you can’t allow to happen. And others made mistakes for the first goal. I’m being ultra-critical of him because he was outstanding, his cross for the winner was brilliant.

“And Josh, he’s been doing great but he’s still young and that back four has been the bedrock of the team.”

McCarthy was pleased to see the returning David McGoldrick put in another promising performance and score his first goal since August 29th.

“I’m sincerely hoping that he is fully fit for Ireland [at the Euros] and that he goes and that he plays and that he has a great tournament.

“He deserves that after the couple of seasons he’s had, it’s been a bit stop-start with injuries.

“Didzy’s just such a good player and I still don’t think he’s 100 per cent. I think there were times he lost the ball today and under different circumstances, had he played more often, you get battled hardened and I don’t think he’s that.

“He’s fit to play and I think he’s had a good game and got his goal. I think he conducted a lot of the play for us today, orchestrated a lot of the play, which was good, but he’s still getting there.

“If he’s lucky enough to be picked by Martin O’Neill, who picks the squad, I’ll be delighted. And I hope he plays, I hope he gets a chance to play because he’s got the ability to play at that level.”

Teddy Bishop made his first start of the season but McCarthy feels the 19-year-old midfielder is still some way off his best.

“I wanted to start him,” he said. “I said to him coming off, ‘Well done, but I think you were knackered’. He said, ‘No, I was all right’.

“Well if that’s him all right, if that’s his best he wouldn’t play every week, so I think there’s a bit more to come from him.

“That cameo when he ran through, that was him. But when he’s fully fit he does that on a regular basis and he doesn’t get caught in possession. He’s a really talented lad. Hopefully the end of the season will get him right for the start of next.”

The Town boss says he’ll be speaking to winning goalscorer Luke Varney, whose short-term deal is up at the end of the season, about his future soon.

“I’ll be talking to him this week,” he added. “It was always the case with Luke, nothing’s really changed with that. We’ve still got a game to play, the last one is coming up next week. We’ll talk to him this week.

“He’s been fantastic, he’s an outstanding pro, an outstanding character. He’s a shining example to anybody who snaps his achilles.

“I’m so glad that [owner] Marcus [Evans] supported him. We put him up, we gave him treatment and I think we’ve both been rewarded. That’s been a symbiotic deal. He’s been rewarded with our support and we’ve been rewarded with a goal and a performance like that.”

McCarthy says he enjoyed the lap of appreciation after the match: “I really wanted to show my appreciation to the fans because I’ve had nothing but support from them from walking in here in November 2012.

“It’s just been a little bit tough [recently]. I’ve had some tart comments at me and some caustic comments, but in the main I’ve really enjoyed the support.

“I went to the Supporters Club do [the Player Awards Evening] and it was quite humbling how much support we were all receiving.

“It was lovely today and I’ve enjoyed it. I was never, ever going to do anything other than walk around and say thank you to the fans.

“I think the ones who stay behind were always going to applaud us and they saw a nice victory in the end.

“And I do think in the end, if we all analyse it, we’ve probably had a good season anyway, we’ve just had a really difficult end to it.

“The support’s been there all the time and I think over the piece they’ve seen more good performances and good results than they have bad. I think they appreciate it, appreciate the effort the players give every single week.

“When I walked in in November 2012 that was one of the things, ‘They’ve given up, the club’s shambles, people don’t care about it’.

“That couldn’t be said now. It’s a well organised, well run club with a team that fights tooth and nail. There’s a lot to be said for that.”

He says the planning for next season is already under way: “That’s ongoing. There never really comes a time when you start thinking that.

“I think that’s an ongoing process where you’re constantly looking at players, what you can do to improve it and change it sometimes. We’re in that process and we’ll be doing that up until the end of August, I guess.”

MK Dons manager Karl Robinson felt the match reflected his already relegated side’s season.

“I think the game showed two sets of players who were willing to put the right sort of effort in at this time of the season with both their fates sealed,” he said. “I’d swap fates, obviously.

“It was two sets of players who put a good shift in and it was a very honest game of football refereed really well as well.

“It was disappointing for us to lose, it summed up our whole season - good, good, good and then poor in key areas.

“It’s the difference in the set-ups, look at the quality of the goalscorers that they possess, streets away from where we are right now. But it’s been a tremendous learning curve for everybody involved in the football club.

“We try and play the right way, even though our fate is sealed. We still hold our heads up high and play a style of football that I believe in immensely and now it’s a case of the club rebuilding itself and going again.”

Photo: Action Images

jonbull88 added 23:30 - Apr 30 Just as well your not in charge cloddyseedbed seeing as mick said he has a core squad of 18 we'd have to sign 9 players just to get to where we are at present.
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Les57 added 23:44 - Apr 30 Some of the supporters who want MM out and also criticise the owner obviously have short term memories. When ME took over he backed three successive managers who all squandered lots of money and took us very close to league 1 football . Enter MM and we improve from relegation candidates to a top half team. Let's make no bones about it. If we had had bishop, mc G, Fraser, and Murphy fit all year we would be looking forward to who we would be playing in the play offs. The fickle fans would then be singing MM praises. On a different note the young full backs did very well today. More good management by giving them game time when the chance arose. But be honest, if we were still fighting for promotion would anybody seriously put them in ahead of chambers and Knudsen ? I think not

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Fatcatevans added 00:47 - May 1 Seriously how can he blame Kenlock for the 2nd goal. Berra totally misjudged the flight of the ball and his love child Gerkin stayed rooted to his line.. Bart would have dealt with the situation easily
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Dissboyitfc added 06:32 - May 1 Les57.... if you want to use the what if scenario, maybe we would have a couple more extra wins on the board had he played our best keeper, we could be going into the game at derby still hoping. Bart comes back in gets player of the season, deservedly so, what happens MM replaces him with his mate Gerken. Does anyone know why Bart was dropped? JUst another puzzling decision from MM in a season full of them,that is costing us bums on seats and points on the table. No one has forgotten he saved us from the drop, it was his job and he was paid handsomely for that! you know just because somebody does something right at the start of their employment, doesnt mean they have a get out of jail card for every thing they get wrong! With hindsight, we should have kept with Magilton! We wont be saying the same about MM, his work here is done!!

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jonbull88 added 07:34 - May 1 Dissboyitfc i would suggest he was simply rotating the keepers a bit. I expect Bart will return vs Derby
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essex57 added 07:36 - May 1 Good post les57
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sidtheswan added 07:36 - May 1 No it wasn't a good season . Overall we were poor at home and played some of the most tedious football I have ever seen in my life . I didn't stay for the lap of honour because nobody who played regularly (apart from Bart) actually played with any honour and didn't deserve any applause . Unless MM makes some key signing's we will have to put up with more of the same next season. Yes MM we do need a right back Emmanuel is excellent going forward and will be great in the future he just needs a proper right back to learn from !

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Dissboyitfc added 07:56 - May 1 Jonbull88...Rotating keepers? not a ploy he used when Gerken held the shirt, is it? Gerken had to get injured for our player of the season( Bart ) to get a game.
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ChrisFelix added 08:47 - May 1 Playing a balanced helps. Shame that he brings back our 3rd rate keeper & Berra has never regained his form last season
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ChrisFelix added 08:51 - May 1 Playing a balanced defence helped but its a shame he brings back our 3rd rate keeper & Berra never regained his form from Las season
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Dissboyitfc added 08:52 - May 1 Les57...Chambers and Knudsen both out injured, so couldnt play not good management at all was a decision forced on MM. Do people not read things? Clearly states in the team selection thread why Chambers and Knudsen were missing.
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bluey123 added 09:25 - May 1 Chambers was not injured so that's another lie god I hate this manager not only ids he an awful manager but an awful man
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bluey123 added 09:36 - May 1 Why am I voted down by you 2 tell me what is good about lying and treating a young man the way he has
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dalinghooblue added 09:41 - May 1 Not a word about why Gerken was in. One 'theory' put forward on the bus going home after the game was that if Bart had played, it would have put him on 20 league games' thereby triggering a bonus. I personally think that is ridiculous, but it seems strange that our most consistent player recently was dropped to the bench without a word.
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Blue_Moses added 09:55 - May 1 "Knudsen most improved player"...give me a season in the Championship training full time with professional coaches and I reckon I would get better too...
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bluey123 added 10:00 - May 1 S Essex57 and bigbigg says everything about you just mark down for no reason idiots
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jonbull88 added 10:24 - May 1 So just because chambers wasn't hopping around on crutches it's a lie bluey123? Lose lose for mick with people like you, play chambers he gets bashed for not playing youth, plays youth he get banded a lier and awful man.
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runaround added 11:25 - May 1 Couldn't go to the game yesterday so can only go by the reports & comments on here, but sounds like it was a much more attacking & entertaining game than the recent ones? But reading Mick's comments above, it seems he wasn't happy with that & had a few digs at young Bishop & Kenlock who's inclusion seemed to be, at least in part, the reason for the more attractive attacking play? Reading between the lines it looks as though he much prefers grinding it out, hoping to get a 0-0 or grab a 1-0? Problem is Mick, that is no longer going to get you a top 6 place, the championship has moved on & it turns the fans away. Yesterday's performance shows we have players capable of playing the attacking football fans crave & now is the time to start to introduce this into the first team. I think Mick is able to do this & is right man for the job, but feel this season he has been scared by the Reading 5-1 & reverted to ultra defensive negative safety first football. Hopefully a break in the summer will do him good & he will be more willing to give it a go come August

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Bluetone added 11:54 - May 1 Runaround quote "Hopefully a break in the summer will do him good & he will be more willing to give it a go come August " Even more hopefully he will be gone by then.
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bluey123 added 11:57 - May 1 jonbull88 he is lying as Chambers was not injured from a source inside the club so you believe everything he says like a lot of headless chickens who go to PR
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essex57 added 12:07 - May 1 Bluey we are not idiots we just don't agree with you are we not allowed to? I don't agree with banner yesterday but if that's their view they are entitled to it.
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bluey123 added 12:33 - May 1 Essex57 I don't mind if you disagree just post a reason
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Elto added 13:44 - May 1 dissboy You mention hindsight re. Magilton. You're using hindsight re. Gerken/Bart situation. The general consensus was they were of a similar standard up until Barts recent run of superb form. Do we know how Barts mental health was when he returned from Poland? Did he have on going concerns with other family members? Was Gerken really playing so badly he should have been dropped? Did you foresee how brilliant Bart was about to be? Regarding yesterday, Jonbull88 is probably right. They are likely to be our 'keepers next season so in an almost meaningless game why not play Gerken. I don't see the problem with it.

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jonbull88 added 14:51 - May 1 Bluey123 I will see chambers at the sponsors dinner on Tuesday I will get the answer from the horses arse rather than through "sources". Actually go on name your "source in the club"
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Dissboyitfc added 15:10 - May 1 Elto... was there a problem with Barts mental Health? Was it documented anywhere that there was? i assume not, MM felt he was ok to play at old Trafford. Bart has a cracking game there, then is dropped. MM has his favourites and that is a fact! Gerks and Bart are not equal, Bart is better, Bart gets player of the season, which proves i along with many others were right in believing that Bart is the undeniable first choice. I have always believed the player in possesion keeps it while he earns it. If we keep our keepers, i guarantee if both are fit, he will start with gerks next season. Playing favourites regardless of form is one of MM's faults and its just plain wrong!

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