Scott Hogan: MK Dons striker ‘way off’ in fitness but ‘hungry’ again

“The gaffer’s aware of where I’m at and I was struggling second half but I can only keep building on what I can do.”

Hogan scored 35 goals in 149 league appearances for Birmingham but admitted he “fell out of love” with the game during his final season at St Andrew’s.

Having started their 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on 9 February, his final seven games for the club were as a late substitute, usually sent on for just the last few minutes.

“There were a lot of things going on and I was just questioning whether I want to do it any more and is it worth it for me to be unhappy all the time?

“As the summer dragged on, I was getting a bit itchy, ‘is there anything there?’, but nothing really appealed to me.

“When the season kicked off, I thought ‘I want to play’ – I’m 32 but there’s no real mileage on my legs. I’ve got years left in me and it was a case of ‘don’t waste it’.

“It made me hungry again (joining MK Dons) so that’s where I am now.”

The Dons sit 13th in League Two, ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Accrington Stanley, but only four points adrift of the play-off places.

And boss Scott Lindsey has declared them “the biggest club in this division”.

He said: “I’ve spoken a lot since I’ve been here about having a winning mentality, kind of a ruthless streak to tread all over teams, and I want that more and more.”

On Hogan’s performance against Morecambe, he added: “I thought he was outstanding.

“He hasn’t played for a long time but I thought he looked really sharp, strong and used his body so well when the ball came in to him.”