Having been tested by two top teams from England over the last week, Dons boss Jimmy Thelin was very satisfied with what his side has taken from the games as we head into the new season.

“I think both of these games, Fulham and Ipswich, are really good games for us to play. They are skilful opponents with this extra intensity and speed of decision making, and when you do a mistake, they are really quick to punish you. This is the level we are aiming for and pushing for.

“The best way to improve your team, improve yourself, is to play against this kind of competition and learn and grow from these games. I think that these two games have been really important for us to grow as a team, but also as an individual player, and I am happy we got these games. This is good preparation for us for the season.

“We are trying to grow all the time and be more compact. I think some parts tonight were really good and still we have some small things to adjust to be better. But then in some moments of the game, when we get the first goal, then we get stuck in a moment. How can we be better, to control this part of the game? It’s important for us to grow when we get hurt in the game with the first goal so that we don’t give away one or two more chances quickly. We have to be more stable.

“When we play these games in Fulham and with Ipswich, it’s teams that are pushing our players to grow and it’s not only about the physicality, it’s also about the focus and the mental capacity to reload and recover and play again and again and again. It’s about having the right players for a busy season and not so much about numbers and also giving space for younger players to grow.

“Now we are looking forward to the season to start. Then during the season you always want to be better and grow, but we are fully ready for the first game of the season. I think all the new players have some time now to adapt to their new teammates, to find more connections and also understand the way we want to play. I think of course we can add more of the qualities when the new teammates are here for longer. We have to help them to use their skills in the best way with the way we want to play.

“Of course we’re trying to change some parts and adding some qualities and as I said before, we have this vision of what we want to be in three years and now we’re in the second season and we’re still building and trying to get the team in the direction we want.”