MK Dons boss Paul Ince admits he's disappointed by the lack of contact he's had from some former Manchester United teammates who are also in management.

Ince told the Observer: "Keaney (Roy Keane) has been fantastic. He was the only one last year, when I was at Macclesfield, who was on the phone all the time, talking and texting, because we were in a similar situation - Sunderland were fifth from bottom [in the Championship] and we were rock bottom.

"We always had that as players, socially and on the pitch. But as a manager he's urging me on whenever I have a good result and I'm doing the same to him. I respect him as a player but I especially respect him as a man because he was the only one who picked up the phone week in, week out.

"I didn't see (Blackburn boss) Mark Hughes do it, people like that who I played with at Man United. I wouldn't say [Hughes] was a close friend but we were team-mates and we had some good times. But it didn't help him pick up the phone to give me encouragement. It means so much to me whenever I get a text from Roy and he says, 'Great result, come on!' People just remember him snarling, but he's an intellectual guy who has always been very methodical and supportive."