MK Dons midfielder Paul Mitchell has joined League 2 Barnet on a month's loan.

The combative 27-year-old heads to Underhill in the hope of gaining further match fitness after a lengthy injury lay-off.

Having spent 18 months recovering from a complicated leg-and-ankle fracture, Mitch announced his return to first team football with a highly-encouraging 90-minute display in Tuesday's Carling Cup tie at Cardiff City.

Despite such a sustained spell on the sidelines, flashes of the old Mitch appeared frequently at Ninian Park. His month on-loan with the Bees will give the Cowshed favourite the chance to play regular first team football, as he looks to stake a claim to be part of Roberto Di Matteo's Dons plans.

Mitch told mkdons.com: "I had a chat with the Gaffer and the Chairman and, with there being no reserve team this season, we all felt it was best for me to go out and get some competitive first team football.

"I've come this far, I didn't want to just drop back into training, I wanted to play every week to give myself the best chance of breaking back into the first team reckoning at MK Dons.

"I'm very grateful to Paul Fairclough and Barnet for giving me a chance. They've obviously taken a bit of a risk given how long I've been out but I think I proved on Tuesday night that I'm fit and raring to go.

"Barnet are a good, strong team with young, hungry players as I've learned from training with them today. I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead."

Subject to the completion of his registration, Mitch will be available to Barnet boss Paul Fairclough when the Bees travel to Chester City on Saturday.