Dean Lewington is set to make his 600th league appearance for Milton Keynes Dons this weekend, a milestone to be proud of.

The 34-year-old defender, who has played for the Club since it was formed back in 2004, will become only the 20th player since the EFL began in 1888 to make 600 appearances for one club.

Lewington is set to captain the Dons as they take on Crewe at Stadium MK.

“It’s something that I’m very proud of,” said Lewington,

“There were a lot of us that moved up from Wimbledon from the start.

“A lot of my youth team all moved together and at the start it was very different.

“You didn’t expect to be here maybe as long as what I have been or to play as many games, but over the years more contracts have been offered and I just enjoyed it. It’s become home.

Speaking exclusively about his achievement to the EFL, Lewington revealed that he has had offers to leave MK Dons, but a move never materialised.

He said: “When you’re younger you get offers and for whatever reason they just weren’t right. They weren’t right for me, or weren’t right for the club and so I’ve never really come close to leaving.

“At the same time myself and the club have been on a parity of where we want to get to. The levels that we’ve been playing at have sort of matched my ability I think.

“People in the past; the likes of Dele and Sam Baldock, they’ve had fantastic ability and rightly so they’ve gone to a high level and pushed themselves to where they could do well. I have less ability and this has been more my level and luckily and unluckily the club’s sort of been around League One, the Championship and now League Two.”

Lewington scored two goals as the club clinched promotion to the Championship in a 5-1 win at home to Yeovil in 2015.

And he believes that has been the highlight of his career so far.

“I think since we’ve come to Milton Keynes, to get to the Championship was always the aim and it took a lot longer than what we thought it would do.

“Karl (Robinson) was in charge of that team for six or seven years and he was building the team for that long and we missed out in the Play-Offs a few times, so to finally get promoted was a massive success.

“In that team we had a few home-grown players as well, so it was a real club effort to get us in to the Championship.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t maintain it but getting there in the first place was a highlight. Hopefully it will be something the club can strive towards and do better with next time.”

Lewington played alongside England star Dele Alli in that promotion-winning season, and he believes that he is the best player he ever played alongside.

“I think Dele is well known and now he’s gone on and done amazing things and he’s a star in his own right.

“Everyone here is very proud of our association with him and what he’s gone on to do.

“Another one of the best players I’ve played with was Keith Andrews, who was captain here when we won League Two and the EFL Trophy.

“He was a very good player Keith. A really good captain and led the club in the right way and went on to play for Ireland and in the Premier League.

“He had a good career and they’re the two standout players.

“Probably a lesser known player who I think is up there with the best I’ve played with would be Dan Potter.

“He was the linchpin of our midfield alongside Dele. He came from Liverpool and was just a really classy player.

“If you asked any MK Dons fans over a number of years he would be someone that would be right up there.

Despite being four months shy of his 35th birthday, Lewington says the retiring from the game has not crossed his mind yet.

“It’s the old cliché I take it one game at a time to see where we end up and then at the end of the season see where that takes us.

“If I’ve got another year then I play another year then see where that takes us.

“There are just so many scenarios which could affect your career that you can’t predict, so for me it’s just enjoying the now and I’ll take the rest of it when it comes.”