Leeds United first-team coach Mark Jackson has emerged as one of the front-runners for the Milton Keynes Dons head coach vacancy, according to Alan Nixon on Patreon.

Despite leading the Dons to a third-placed finish in League One last season, previous boss Liam Manning was sacked over a week ago, with the club only picking up 15 points from their first 20 third tier matches.

The hierarchy are looking for a new face to take over as soon as possible, with ex-Wigan Athletic manager Leam Richardson linked, but Pete Winkleman and co are also keen on Jackson.

The 45-year-old, who was an England under-20's international in his playing days, progressed through the youth coaching ranks at Elland Road to become the club's under-23's boss in 2020, replacing Carlos Corberan.

Having impressed enough in that job, Jackson was promoted to Jesse Marsch's staff late last season, but he is now being eyed up for his first-ever head coach role in senior football.

The Verdict

This would go down the route of the typical appointment that you'd expect a club like MK Dons to make.

They went down the young, not too experienced coach route with Manning, although he did have a period in Belgium on his CV, so it only makes sense that they follow a similar path.

We are often seeing head coaches of Premier League youth sides or first-team coaches being offered the chance to lead their own teams in the EFL nowadays, and this could be Jackson's big break.

He has clearly impressed in recent years at Leeds, and he can use the recent experiences under Marsch to good effect if he wins out in the battle to be appointed.