Stepping out loan for the first time for a young player is an exciting opportunity. It’s the chance to put everything you’ve learned in your youth career so far into practice. There are careers on the line, points up for grabs and supporters making their voices heard.

It’s about testing yourself and soaking up every new experience you have as you take your first steps in senior football.

It’s rarely straight forward, and it’s not very often players will skip through their youth teams and be thrusted into first team football in the Premier League without some experience on loan. There is a process of learning and for many players that comes from a temporary spell with another club. In Daniel Oyegoke’s case, his first taste of life out on loan brought positives and negative moments, but overall the young defender knows he’s now a better player for it.

Fresh from an amazing summer where he was part of an England Under-19 group that lifted the European Championship trophy alongside fellow Bee Matthew Cox, Daniel returned to West London with a jubilant smile as he shared his international experiences with his teammates upon returning to pre-season training. And of course, the medal which serves as recognition for a brilliant achievement for the young Lions. There was then a decision to be made for Daniel. Having joined Thomas Frank’s squad for pre-season training, would it be pushing for training minutes with the first team whilst getting the majority of his game time with the B team for a second season, or would it be better to step out on loan for some competitive first team football? The decision for the latter was chosen and Daniel headed to MK Dons in Sky Bet League One.

It's fair to say that the Buckinghamshire club haven’t had the season they’d anticipated as they battle towards the bottom end of English football’s third tier having come close to promotion to the Sky Bet Championship last season following a third-place finish and defeat in the play-offs. Daniel spent the first half of the season at Stadium MK before returning to continue his minutes with Neil MacFarlane’s side. Whilst with MK Dons, Daniel clocked up 18 appearances in all competitions in what was an important learning experience for the youngster. He went through a managerial departure after Liam Manning left the club in December following a difficult run of form.

Daniel in action with MK Dons earlier this season

“I think this season has presented me with a lot of new challenges,” said Daniel as he sits down to discuss his campaign at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre. “I think I started the season well and it was difficult when the manager left at MK, but since I’ve come back into the building here, I feel like I’ve done well and had a good end to the season. I feel I’ve done well in the international periods this season and I feel I’m in a good place, whether that’s physically, technically or mentally.

“At the beginning the adaptation to League One felt seamless. Unfortunately, whatever was going on just wasn’t working and we struggled to pick up results. We found goals hard to come by and that led to the manager leaving. It was tough when the manager left because he was a big part of why I went there, and he gave me lots of minutes. When the team’s confidence went it was tough to keep playing the same style and we started to play a little longer and a bit more defensive. Perhaps that didn’t work too well because a lot of the players weren’t accustomed to playing that style of play.”

Having come through the ranks at Arsenal before moving to the B team, Daniel felt he got himself into a positive place before heading out on loan but says he quickly knew he had to adapt to life in the Football League and was perhaps surprised a little by the standard of some of the opposition.

He continued: “Before playing in the Football League I thought I was in a good place. I think some teams are really good in League One and some aren’t so good. Some of the teams who perhaps aren’t as technical do what they do well and are very physical. I remember one of my first starts was against Sheffield Wednesday and we had a really good game that day. We lost 1-0 but had so many chances and we kept them to very little. The way we played, we felt so good after the game because we knew they were a team that would push for promotion.

“There were lots of different characters in the dressing room and I don’t think many of us had been through that sort of situation before (a tough run of form). There were some great guys in there and some really top players.”

As January arrived, Daniel then returned to West London to link up with the B team following his time with MK Dons. For him now, it was then about using those experiences on loan to continue his development in a varied fixture programme, and he has become one of the leaders within a young group of players.

“It’s a good group, there are lots of young players, but the level has been high and the group are really close,” explained Daniel.

“I don’t think I’ve had many bad games since I’ve been back. Consistency is one of the things that I’ve had to work on and I feel like I’m improving with that. You know what you’re getting with me now, and I feel it’s becoming an area of strength. I’m going into games feeling confident and knowing what I’ve got to do so I want to keep that up.”

Daniel has helped the B team to the final of the Premier League Cup this season

When you have the opportunity to sit down with Daniel you can’t turn down the opportunity to discuss his experiences with the national team over the past year or so. He has become a European champion at Under-19 level having helped England to a 3-1 win over Israel in last summer’s tournament in Slovakia. The extremely talented young group then followed it up with qualification for the Under-20 World Cup which is due to take place this summer and Daniel says the side can be confident going into the tournament despite some tough opposition.

He explained: “Hopefully I’ve done enough in previous camps (to make the squad). I got an assist when we last met up and the camp before that I got a goal and my involvement this year with the squad has been good. With what we did in the Euros we’ve got a quite a settled group and hopefully the team can go and do well there.

“It’s very tactical, we’re playing against teams across the world so they have different ways of playing football and I really enjoy it. France are the best we’ve come up against because they have everything in their team. We didn’t play them in the final last summer because they lost to Israel in the semi-finals. We played them early last season and we lost and since then we haven’t played them. As a group we’ve managed to come a bit further than them by winning the Euros and I think the two of us can be confident going into the tournament.

“Nobody has won the European Championships and then gone on to win the World Cup at this level. Why can’t we do both? We’ve played a lot of opposition from the rest of the world before, and we’ve done well against teams likes USA, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico so it’s not like we haven’t played against these teams before, and we’ve done well.”

Daniel is a European champion at Under-19 level

The tournament was originally set to be held in Indonesia, but FIFA recently made the decision to remove them as hosts and it will now take place in Argentina from 20 May to 11 June this year. Daniel believes the group’s close proximity having risen through the ranks together will be a help come the summer as they aim for more silverware as all aim to push into that talented Under-21 group.

Daniel continued: “We’re close. I’ve been with England since Under-16 level and I feel quite comfortable in and around the group. That’s the next step (Under-21s), everyone in there is playing at a higher level so I think that has to be the next step for me. Everyone who is at a Premier League club and in that squad is in a similar position in terms of trying to take that next step.”

With another year of development under his belt, Daniel will now be aiming for a strong finish to the campaign as he looks to head to the World Cup in good form, and who’s to say the Young Lions can’t return home from another tournament with another trophy to add to their cabinet?