Grigg: Dons goals prove I didn’t become a bad player overnight!
Louis-Dreyfus thanks Cats fans for their unwavering support
MK Dons boss Russell Martin says he is 'sure there'll be discussions' about a possible permanent summer move for Will Grigg if the striker maintains his excellent form.
Grigg has four goals in six appearances since returning to his former club on loan on deadline day.
Martin says it is too early to discuss what happens at the end of the campaign, but that the 29-year-old is 'right up the club's street’.
"I don't want to speak too early but I love working with him – we all do," Martin said.
"He's right up our street in terms of character and ability.
"If he keeps doing what he's doing, I'm sure there will be discussions about doing what we can, but I couldn't tell you to be honest.
“There's a lot of football still to be played, and obviously anything that happens would depend on what happens to his parent club for the rest of the season.
"We'll have to wait and see, but Will is happy playing football here, we're very happy to have him and we'll make the most of that until the end of the season and we'll assess it then."
Grigg himself said he was happy at MK Dons but is wary that he remains contracted to Sunderland until next summer.
"It's one of those things – I've got another year left at Sunderland so it's not something I can really talk about,"
he said.
"I'm contracted to Sunderland and I'm committed to that.
"I'm just concentrating on every game as it comes, the old cliché!
"I'm happy here, and I'm taking it game by game, and hopefully it's a successful end to the season for myself and the team.
"We'll see what happens over the summer and it's not really something I can comment on at the moment because there are so many factors involved.
"I'm happy at the moment and we'll go from there."
Grigg said he was not out to prove anyone wrong after the difficulties he has experienced at Sunderland thus far, but said his form did show he had not become a bad player overnight.
"Football has its ups and downs," he said.
"At Sunderland, it hasn't been great, there's no hiding that it's not been a successful time for me or the club.
"As a player, I've always had the confidence in myself, training well every day and then for whatever reason, it just wasn't happening.
"I always knew myself, and my team-mates knew I wasn't a bad player and I haven't changed overnight into a bad player.
"I think I've proven that even though I've not played football in a year, I've come into six straight games and performed consistently well with goals and assists.
"I'm not saying I'm there, and I've been brilliant for every minute, because it's not the case.
"In terms of proving people wrong, it's not what I've gone out to do. It's my job to play football and score goals.
"For me, it's just nice to be out there doing what I love.
"The only people I need to prove anything to is my team-mates and the staff."
Grigg scored eight goals in 51 games for Sunderland.
Lee Johnson is hopeful that he could have close to a full squad to choose from after Sunderland's Papa John's Trophy final next Sunday.
The Black Cats boss is likely to have to continue with a reshuffled backline for today's visit of Rochdale, but he has been handed a series of boosts at the Academy of Light this week.
The head coach had a concern over Lynden Gooch, who was substituted during the 1-0 win over Swindon Town with a calf injury.
Scans have subsequently shown there is no muscle damage, giving him an outside chance of being involved this afternoon.
Johnson could also welcome back at least one of his senior centre-halves over the next week, as well as experienced midfielder Grant Leadbitter.
Bailey Wright and Tom Flanagan are edging towards a return while Conor McLaughlin looks, at this stage, almost certain to be in contention to face Tranmere Rovers at Wembley.
That is particularly good news for Johnson, as both Dion Sanderson and Jake Vokins will be cup-tied for that game.
Perhaps most encouragingly of all, Johnson now has good reason to believe that Denver Hume could return from a hamstring problem far sooner than originally anticipated.
The 22-year-old still has a lot of progress to make before he realistically is in contention, but the signs on the training ground are nevertheless encouraging.
Here's what Johnson had to say on every player currently sidelined…
On Denver Hume...
"The speed of his recovery from this one has been surprising.
"He was part of our passing drills on Friday, he did some 1-v-1's with Ross Stewart and joined in with some patterns-of-play work towards the end.
"He looks good, he's obviously a great mover anwyay in terms of how he gets across the ground."
On when he could realistically return...
"You need to tick the boxes and there are obviously steps to get back to a firstteam game, particularly with the kind of hamstring injury that he's had.
“The positive is that he's been in controlled training, which is good.
“He's moving well and feeling good which means we can now step it on.
“Ideally, of course, you'd want a player like that to get 90 minutes once or twice [in the U23s] before even considering a first-team return.”
On Ross Stewart...
"Ross Stewart was in training today and looks a bit closer.
“He is slightly different [to Hume] as his hamstring injury was a much lower grade.
“He can be progressed a little bit quicker in terms of those boxes that need to be ticked.”
On Grant Leadbitter...
"Grant we know is fit because he's played recently, so it's just a case of him being
comfortable.
“He went to see a specialist, and the diagnosis was major trauma to everything in his shoulder.
"But it is a manageable situation. With the right strapping and the right conditions, it can be managed.
“There is a risk that it might pop out again, but I think Grant is probably willing to take that risk, maybe not necessarily over the short term, but over the medium term as he gets stronger and starts to feel a bit more comfortable.
“He looked like an American football player today because he had a nice thick padding, but hopefully that will help him and his confidence.
“The situation will always remain the same – there’s a 50 per cent chance that his shoulder will pop out again – and if it does, then I think it will require surgery.
“But at the moment, there are protective measures we can use to aid the healing and mitigate against the chances
of it popping out again.”
On whether he could realistically feature at Wembley…
"If you look at him move, he 100% has a chance.
“It won't be about that, it'll be the contact, the prospect of falling over, that's the bit we haven't really had a time to properly discuss.
“Grant has been out with us on Friday but just for passing drills, not with contact.
“It'll depend on how he feels.
“He's a sensible player, he won't chase it if he's not ready.
“He knows we're competing on two fronts.
“I know that's a bit vague, but we're not ruling him out at this stage.”
On Bailey Wright...
"Bailey's calf injury, the three-week mark is really important because you have to let it heal properly.
“He's not a million miles away."
On Tom Flanagan...
"Flanno has been out there today and once fit, we shouldn't expect it to be too long or him to need much rehabilitation.
“It will be him catching up on his lung capacity more than anything.
“He's starting to look a bit stronger and he's not a million miles away either.”
On Conor McLaughlin... "Conor had an injection and he has settled well.
"There's a risk of rupture if he comes back too quickly, and when I say too quickly that means about 32-48 hours.
“So he should be another one [back soon].
“I reckon he'll train Monday, maybe Wednesday.
“Portsmouth might come too soon, it might not.”
On Lynden Gooch...
"Lynden felt his calf but the scan was brilliant news, with no damage.
“That probably means it's a compressed nerve or it was cramp. At the moment we can't know that. A compressed nerve will take a little longer, if it's cramp we'll know tomorrow morning because he'll be fine.”