Injuries may have forced Milton Keynes Dons into a rethink, but they could also provide Daniel Crowley with the opening he has been waiting for.
The 28-year-old midfielder arrived at Stadium MK in January 2025 from Notts County with a strong reputation, having scored 19 league goals across 18 months at Meadow Lane and earning a place in the 2023-24 League Two PFA Team of the Year. However, his time in Buckinghamshire has not unfolded as smoothly. Crowley has featured sparingly this season, starting just six matches and contributing two goal involvements, including his first goal for the club in the 5-1 win over Shrewsbury Town on 24 January 2026.
Head coach Paul Warne has often preferred greater physicality and vertical drive in midfield, leaving Crowley to make cameo appearances from the bench. Yet with Callum Paterson and Aaron Collins sidelined, Jay Matete nursing a hamstring issue and others still weeks away from returning, the landscape has shifted. When Matete was forced off against Crawley Town, it was Crowley who stepped in and influenced proceedings for more than 50 minutes.
Warne was keen to stress that a lack of minutes does not reflect a lack of belief.
“The fact I haven’t played Dan a lot doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s a great player.”
“He knows how I want to play, he’s a part of all the team meetings, he knows I want the team to run and drive forwards, he knows I like creative players and he was today. A lot of the good things went through him. He should be really pleased.”
“He’s kept himself in pretty good nick considering the little game time he has had. He gave us a bit of control, and if you need someone to go and get it to feet, you know he’ll keep you the ball.”
Crowley’s career has rarely followed a straight line. A product of the Aston Villa academy before moving to Arsenal as a teenager, he was once described as one of the brightest technical prospects of his generation. Spells in the Netherlands with Willem II and SC Cambuur, a Championship stint with Birmingham City and a League One title with Hull City form part of a varied CV that underlines both talent and turbulence.
Now at MK Dons, the question is whether circumstances can align with opportunity.
Could this be the open door he needs?
There is a sense that this moment could define Crowley’s Dons career. He has the pedigree, the touch and the vision, but modern League Two is unforgiving. Energy and directness are often prioritised over subtlety. Yet injuries have stripped options away from Warne and forced a recalibration.
If Crowley can combine his technical quality with the intensity demanded, he could transform from a peripheral figure to a pivotal presence. For a player who has rebuilt his career before, this feels less like a final chance and more like another chapter waiting to be written.