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Scott Twine is having the time of his life. MK Dons’ number nine is currently in arguably the hottest streak of his professional career, scoring eight goals and assisting three times.
Just as comfortable playing off either foot, the summer recruit from Swindon Town has been fantastic from the off, scoring a stunning free-kick goal on his league debut followed by a hat-trick against Fleetwood Town, and most recently, a brilliant brace against Cambridge United.
Twine arrived in Buckinghamshire with big boots to fill, taking the place of Scott Fraser who joined Ipswich Town in the summer after producing stellar performances the whole way through the 2020/21 campaign.
Christened by the fans as their superstar when it comes to playing in the number 10 position, he will be hoping to continue his good form in the coming weeks and months.
? Hear from Scott Twine after today's 4-1 win over Cambridge United ? pic.twitter.com/m8RxJNyLiW
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) November 13, 2021
When MK Dons snapped him up on a free transfer after he became available following Swindon Town’s relegation, he was an acquisition that not only saw him scouted on his ability, but also his ability at converting remarkably low xG chances into goals.
He has made himself known around the leagues for his shooting from distance, resulting in teams choosing more often than not to operate a heavy press as he enters the final third.
Subsequently, over the course of his last 41 matches at Swindon Town and MK Dons, the midfielder has played 3,230 minutes and has had 130 shots in this period. 91 of those shots, which is exactly 70%, have come from outside the penalty area.
Twine averages seven shots every two matches and only one of these will be from inside the box. Within these shooting statistics, it is key to note that at no stage during his fledgling career has he ever been employed as a penalty taker. After 85 career matches to date, he has only ever taken one penalty which he failed to convert.
This has led to him having an xG of only 7.68 which is boosted highly by the distance from goal reducing the chance of scoring. In this period, the midfielder has scored 15 goals and has given his sides a fantastic return of over five more goals than the statistics would expect.
It is also worth taking into consideration that seven of these goals and 26 of the games were in a team that ultimately suffered relegation so, at times in their campaign, the relentless requirement for points would have seen Swindon playing a more desperate and direct style of football over a fluid pass and move system.
In addition to his very impressive shooting stats, Twine’s creative influence is clear to see in his side and can be explained by his passing and touch statistics. He has created seven big chances, averaging over 2.5 key passes per 90 and over 50 touches a match.
This not only backs up his importance to the side but also his technical domination of the opposition. For reference, MK Dons’ next highest key passer is Matt O’Riley with 1.9.
In Twine’s most recent match at home to Cambridge United, he was at his absolute best. The Dons’ number nine had a masterful ability to pick apart the visiting defence by finding intricate little pockets for him to get on the ball and then using his movement to turn out and develop the attack.
It only took 13 minutes for Twine to be able to ghost in the penalty area and slot home completely unmarked for his seventh of the season as he opened the scoring for the Dons.
With 25 minutes on the clock, the midfielder demonstrated a touch of sublime skill to perfectly place a pass into Max Watters’ path who duly finished to double the host’s lead.
To cap off his scintillating opening 45 minutes, he beautifully curled a free-kick into the top corner leaving Dimitar Mitov scrambling across his line as the Dons virtually wrapped up the win by half-time.
As the match progressed, had it not been for a vastly improved Cambridge display combined with MK Dons dropping down the gears, the signs were on show immediately after the interval that there could have been a continued onslaught.
This all changed with 15 minutes to go when the afternoon’s deadly duo of Twine and Watters linked up yet again to hammer home a fourth.
When Twine intercepted a wayward ball from a Cambridge defender, he played a quick one-two with Watters and killed the ball removing all the pace. The midfielder played a deft chip over the only covering defender between Watters and the goal which allowed the combative forward on loan from Cardiff City to rifle home his second of the afternoon to make certain all three points stayed in Buckinghamshire.
Despite MK Dons having endured a below-par October which saw three poor losses away to relegation threatened Shrewsbury Town and Doncaster Rovers alongside a drubbing at home by Rotherham United, the heavy victory that Twine helped to mastermind will help to reignite the growing positive atmosphere inside Stadium MK amongst supporters and players alike.
With such a young playing squad in relative terms being utilised by Dons manager Liam Manning, who himself is in his first tenure within the English football pyramid, it can be expected that the confidence will polarise whereby the highs will be over-celebrated whilst the lows will be construed in the same manner.
It is important that Manning can keep his young starlets level-headed and composed as the season progresses.
Should Twine keep up his good form and continue to display performances that have those watching running out of superlatives to describe, it will be obvious that he has all the attributes to succeed in higher divisions.
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