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Canaries are the yardstick for where Dons want to be in a year's time Goal-scorer Ryan Wintle spoke after MK Dons’ 4-1 defeat to Norwich on Saturday The Carabao Cup defeat to Norwich City was a taster of what MK Dons need to match if they are harbouring Championship dreams. While the hosts were gifted three of their goals in the 4-1 win at Carrow Road on Saturday, the Canaries’ ruthless streak was something which midfielder Ryan Wintle said is a sign of things to come should Dons want to play in the second tier. The former Cardiff City man secured promotion to the division last season but left Wales in the summer for Milton Keynes. With his knowledge of League One, the 29-year-old admitted Dons are unlikely to come up against a side like Norwich in their campaign, and said the Canaries should be used as a yardstick for where they are aiming to be this time next year. “Norwich are much better than what we’ll face week in, week out in League One,” he said. “They’ll be right up there in the Championship, I believe around the play-offs. Barring a few teams that will play a similar style to that, I don’t think there will be many as strong on the front-line, they were clinical, and I don’t think we’ll face much of that. “We’ve got aspirations to get promoted and to get to their level next year. It’s a learning curve for us. In some of the lower leagues, you can get away with things but the higher up you go, you get punished, and we did get punished today, very early as well. “Maybe we showed a bit of rustiness early on, and I’m sure when the league campaign comes around we won’t start messing about in the first minute! “It’s a good sign that everyone in the dressing room is down after the game. I feel like we’ve given them three goals, which hopefully can only get better going into the league campaign.” Wintle opened his scoring account by bagging the only goal of the game for Paul Warne’s side to make it 3-1, coming after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing saw his penalty saved ten minutes into the second-half. Only scoring once throughout Cardiff’s promotion campaign last time out, and only five in 150 league outings for the Bluebirds, the midfielder said he has been tasked with getting on the scoresheet more often this season. He added: “I got the goal, which was nice. I want to add more of them this season. The manager is onto me all the time in training when we’re shooting. To get one today is perfect, it's one in one, so hopefully next week I can make it two in two.”