MK Dons have confirmed their interest in Neil Mellor.

The former Liverpool youngster is set to spend the rest of the season on the sidelines, having suffered a setback in his recovery from cartilage surgery.

Mellor is out of contract at Preston North End in the summer, and Dons manager Karl Robinson has revealed he wants to sign the 29-year-old forward.

"I want him desperately next season," Robinson said in the Lancashire Evening Post. "What a player he is, I want him here. I've spoken to him at great length about it.

"We know what our budgets are, we don't moan, we just get the best out of it. If we can find the room for players like Neil Mellor in there, then we will be okay for next season."

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