Dean Lewington: 'Prehistoric' MK Dons defender set for 900th career game

Dean Lewington has made 751 league appearances for MK Dons - 747 of them starts

MK Dons defender Dean Lewington admits to being a bit of a football dinosaur as he approaches the 900th appearance of his career.

The 38-year-old is set to reach the milestone when the Dons travel to Cheltenham on Saturday.

Lewington played his first Football League game for the old Wimbledon FC against Sheffield Wednesday in 2003.

"As you get older, especially the way modern football is going, over 30s are seen as prehistoric really," he said.

"They've been trying to replace me for the last 15 years so to get this far is not too bad.

"I've been doing well enough to keep playing and be in the team and it's got to quite a big number now."

Lewington was in the Dons squad which won promotion to the Championship in 2015 and they were close to a repeat last season but lost to Wycombe in the League One play-offs.

The start of this season has not gone according to plan, with five successive defeats before Tuesday's trip to Charlton Athletic, but a 2-0 victory lifted them three places up the table from bottom to 21st.

Lewington has been switched to a more central role by head coach Liam Manning, with Zak Jules taking the left-sided defensive position he occupied for much of his career.

"He's starting to step up now and he's got a brilliant framework to build from," Lewington said of the 25-year-old, who was loaned out to Fleetwood in the second half of 2021-22.

"He's fantastically athletic and ticks a load of boxes, he just needs to believe in his own ability and bring a bit of composure to his game, which is starting to come.

"Hopefully this run in the team will give him a bit of confidence and he'll keep on improving and going from strength to strength."

Lewington will have to play beyond his 40th birthday to reach the exclusive 1,000 appearances club, whose members include Peter Shilton, Ray Clemence, Tony Ford, Alan Ball, Frank Lampard Sr, Ryan Giggs, David James and Ian Callaghan.

'You wouldn't think he's the oldest'

Manning is in no doubt whatsoever of Lewington's continuing value to the team.

"His knowledge of the league and the game is outstanding," he told BBC Three Counties Radio. "Since I've been at the club, working with him, (I've been) picking his brains, getting his ideas, challenging him to execute certain things on the pitch and have a voice with the players.

"It's incredible what he's done in his career and I'm fortunate to have worked with him for the period of time I have.

"In the changing room, you wouldn't think he's the oldest and played 900 games when you see how he is around the lads. He's a real people person...and he has so much to give back to the game still."

The question of how long Lewington will keep playing is one he has been asked many times, and he stated in the summer that he "will know when the time is right" to retire.

That position - unlike his role in the team - is unchanged.

"Every year since 30 you don't look too far in the future, you see how it goes," he added.

"At the moment, there's more pressing things on my mind rather than what happens at the end of the season, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."