The former England captain, 41, signed a two-year contract to replace Roberto di Matteo at stadium:mk just 12 months after leaving the club for Blackburn.

His short spell in the top flight proved unsuccessful, with Rovers winning just three of his 17 Premier League games in charge before he was sacked in December, but Ince believes his record is still impressive.

He said: "I have nothing to prove to anyone, my record speaks for itself.

"At Macclesfield I was successful and then I won the double here in Milton Keynes in my first season. Blackburn was a great learning curve for me and I feel like I wasn't given the tools I needed to do the job properly up there.

"But it's six months' experience of managing in the top flight which will stand me in good stead for the rest of my career."

Ince finds himself back at a club which finished third in League One last season under Di Matteo - who surprisingly left to become West Brom's new boss - but believes the Dons face a tougher challenge this time around.

He said: "In an ideal world we will get promotion again but it doesn't always work that way. I felt that last season was a great chance for the Dons to get into the Championship but this year the league is a lot tougher.

"I felt when I left that the team was ready to go up again and we are a better side than Peterborough - and they went up instead.

"There are some big teams who have come down like Charlton and Norwich and it will be tough. We take the confidence from last season's performance though and I want to bring in four or five players to make us a stronger unit.

"I don't want to give anyone high expectations but the ambition is to take this club to the level where it belongs."

Ince took the Dons to the League Two title and victory at Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final during his first spell and admits that no other League One club could have tempted him.

He said: "When I drove back to the stadium it still gave me that buzz and that wow factor and I can't wait to get started now.

"It was a tough decision to drop down two leagues after managing in the Premier League and there is no other club I would have considered in League One.

"But this is where it all happened for me. I have got a rapport with the fans and there is some unfinished business here.

"Eighty per cent of the players are players I brought in so that helps and it still feels like my team. They know what I expect of them and my standards and how I work so that will only be good for all of us."